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HISTORY
OF THE
MOORISH EMPIRE IN EUROPE
HISTORY
OF THE
Moorish Empire
IN EUROPE
BY
S. P. SCOTT
AUTHOR OF "THROUGH SPAIN"
Corduba famosa locuples de nomine dicta,
Inclyta deliciis, rebus quoque splendida cunctis
Hroswitha, Passio S. Pelagii
IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. III.
PHILADELPHIA ^ LONDON
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1904
Copyright, 1904
By J. B. LippiNCOTT Company
Published March, 1904
Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TIL
CHAPTER XXIII
INFLUENCE OF THE MOORS ON EUROPE THROUGH THE EMPIRE OF
FREDERICK II. AND THE STATES OF SOUTHERN FRANCE
PAGE
Permanence of Arab Ideas in the South of Europe Social
Corruption Revolts against the Papacy Antagonism
of^the Holy ^ee and the German Empire Consolida-
tion of the Papal Power under Innocent III. Civi-
lizing Agencies in Sicily Influence of the Normans
as Heirs of the Arabs Birth of Frederick II. Char-
acter of Innocent III. Genius of the Emperor His
Reforms System of Jurisprudence Commerce
Legislation The University of Naples The Medi-
cal School of Salerno Character of Frederick His
Court The South of France Its Early Civilization
Cosmopolitan Character of its Population Its
Wealth, Intelligence, and Profligacy Debased Con-
dition of the Clergy The University of Montpellier
The Troubadours The Albigenses Their Defiance
of Rome A Crusade is preached against Them They
are annihilated Cruelty of the Crusaders Parallel
between the Civilization of Sicily and Languedoc
Survival of the Philosophical Principles and Opinions
of the Thirteenth Century 1
CHAPTER XXIV
THE SPANISH JEWS
Influence of the Semitic Race on Civilization Enterprise of
the Ancient Jews Their Eminent Talents Their
Power during the Middle Ages Their Universal Pro-
scription Their Condition under the Moors of Spain
Their Extraordinary Attainments Their Devotion
to Letters Their Academies Rabbis as Ambassadors
of the Khalifs Learned Men Poets, Physicians,
vi Contents of Volume III.
PAGE
Statesmen, Philosophers Maimonides : His Genius
and His Works His Character Preponderating In-
fluence of the Spanish Jews in Government and Society
Their Necessity to the Ruling Classes They are
driven to Usury Their Prosperity They are favored
by Alfonso X. and Pedro el Cruel Their Proficiency
in Medicine Obligations of Mediaeval and Modern
Science to the Jews Their Wonderful Survival under
Oppression Their Exile from the Peninsula Their
Sufferings The Taint of Hebrew Blood in the Aris-
tocracy of Spain and Portugal 105
*
CHAPTER XXV
THE CHRISTIANS UNDER MOSLEM RULE
Scarcity of Information concerning the Tributary Chris-
tians Supremacy of the Church under the Visigoths
Independence of the Spanish Hierarchy Its Wealth
Civil Organization of the^Christians under the Moors
Their Privileges Restrictions imposed upon Them
Freedom of Worship Churches, Monasteries, and
Convents Conditions in Sicily Greater Severity of
the Laws in that Island Anomaly in the Ecclesiasti-
cal Government of Spain The Khalif the Virtual
Head of the Church Abuse of His Power Results of
the Arab Occupation of Septimania Increased Au-
thority of the Spanish Hierarchy resulting from its
Isolation Social Life of the Christian Tributaries
Their Devotion to Arab Learning They are em-
ployed by the Khalifs in Important Missions Innate
Hostility of Moslem and Christian Number and In-
fluence of the Renegades The Martyrs Causes of
Persecution Contrast between the Maxims and Policy
of the Two Religions Impediments to Racial Amal-
gamation , 177
CHAPTER XXVI
THE MORISCOES
State of the Kingdom after the Conquest Superiority of
the Moors Policy of the Crown Introduction of the
Holy Office Administration of Talavera His Popu-
Contents of Volume III. vii
PACK
larity He is superseded by Ximenes The Two Great
Spanish Cardinals Their Opposite Characters In-
fluence on Their Age Violence of Ximenes He burns
the Arabic Manuscripts Insurrection of the Moriscoes
Rout in the Sierra Berraeja Bigotry of Isabella
The Moors under Charles V. Persecution by the
Clergy and the Inquisition under Philip II. War in
the Alpuj arras Ibn-Ommeyah Operations of Don
John of -Austria Removal of the Moors of Granada
Death of Ibn-Ommeyah Ibn-Abu becomes King
Siege of Galera Atrocities of the Campaign Fate of
Ibn-Abu Condition of the Moriscoes in Spain They
are Exiled by Philip III. Their Sufferings Effect
of their Banishment upon the Prosperity of the King-
dom 218
CHAPTER XXVII
GENERAL CONDITION OF EUROPE FROM THE VIII. TO THE XVI.
CENTURY
Effects of Barbarian Supremacy on the Nations of Europe
Rise of the Papal Power Character of the Popes
Their Vices and Crimes The Interdict Corrupt
Practices of Prelates and Degradation of the Papacy
Institution of the Monastic Orders Their Great
Influence Their Final Degeneracy Wealth of the
Religious Houses The Byzantine System Its Char-
acteristics Power of the Eunuchs Splendor of Con-
stantinople Destruction of Learning Debased Con- .
dition of the Greeks The People of Western Europe
Tyranny of Caste and its Effects Feudal Oppres-
sion Life of the Noble His Amusements The Serf
and his Degradation His Hopeless Existence Treat-
ment of the Jews Prevalence of Epidemics Religious
Festivals General Ignorance Scarcity and Value of
Books Persecution of Learning The Empire of the
Church Its Extraordinary Vitality 324
viii Contents of Volume III.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE HISPANO-ARAB AGE OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
PAOB
Intellectual Stagnation of Europe during the Period of
Moslem Greatness High Rank of Scholars in Spain
Attainments of the Khalifs Character of Arab
Literature Progress of Science The Alexandrian
Museum Its Wonderful Discoveries Its Contributions
to Learning Its Influence on the Career of the Moham-
medans The Arabic Language Poetry of the Arabs
Its General Characteristics Theology and Juris-
prudence History Geography Philosophy
Libraries Rationalism Averroes Mathematics
Astronomy Al-Hazen Gerbert Botany
Alchemy Chemistry Pharmacy Albertus Magnus,
Robert Grossetete, and Roger Bacon Medicine and
Surgery Ignorance of their Theories and Scientific
Application in Mediaeval Europe Prevalence of Im-
posture Fatality of Epidemics Great Advance of the
Arabs in Medical Knowledge Hospitals Treatment
of Various Diseases The Famous Moslem Practi-
tioners Contrast between the Christian and Moham-
medan Systems Enduring Effects of Arab Science
Its Example and Benefits the Creative Influence of
Modern Civilization 423
CHAPTER XXIX
MOORISH ART IN SOUTHERN EUROPE
Absolute Ignorance of Art among the Original Arabs
Their Debt to Antiquity Their Early Architecture-
Materials Massive Character of the First Edifices of
the Moslems The Horseshoe Arch Its Phallic Deri-
vation Progress of Artistic Embellishment Its
Wonderful Diversity Byzantine Influence Employ-
ment of Encaustic Tiles Mosaics of the Mosque of
Cordova Stuccoes Their Composition and Infinite
Variety of Form Stalactitic Pendentives Woodwork
Its Beautiful and Intricate Designs Disappear-
ance of Arabic Architectural Monuments in Sicily
Military Structures of Mohammedan Spain Typical
Form of the Mosque Its Hebrew Origin Manifold
Contents of Volume III. ix
PAGE
Derivation of Hisp^no-Arab Architecture Develop-
ment of Art in Moorish Spain Its Three Epochs
The Alhambra its Culmination Representation of
Animal Forms Painting and Sculpture Mural Dec-
oration The Industrial Arts Working of Metals
Arms Engraved Gems Ceramics The Leathern
Tapestry of Cordova Textile Fabrics Calligraphy
and Illumination Destruction of the Artistic Remains
of the Moors 584
CHAPTER XXX
agriculture, manufactures, and commerce of the european
Moslems; their manners, customs, and amusements
Disappearance of the Memorials of Arab Civilization
Agricultural System of the Spanish Moors Its Won-
derful Perfection Irrigating Apparatus The Tri-
bunal of the Waters The Work of Ibn-al-Awam
Universal Cultivation of the Soil Mineral Resources
of the Peninsula Manufactures The Great Moslem
Emporiums of the Mediterranean Commerce Its Ex-
tensive Ramifications Articles of Traffic Commercial
Prosperity of Sicily The Magnetic Needle Gun-
powder and Artillery War Coinage Characteristics
of the Khalifs Demoralization of the People The
Bath General Prevalence of Superstition Social Life
of the Moslems of Europe Privileges of Women
Polygamy and Morals Slavery Amusements The
Game of Chess Other Pastimes Dances Music
Equestrian Sports The Bull Fight The Tilt of
Reeds The Course of the Rings Hawking Pecu-
liarities of Hispano-Arab Civilization The Crusades
Their Effect on Christendom |Jnrivalled Achieve-
ments of the Moors in Europe Conclusion 595
HISTORY
OF THE
MOORISH EMPIRE IN EUROPE
CHAPTER XXIII
INFLUENCE OF THE MOORS ON EUROPE THROUGH
THE EMPIRE OF FREDERICK II. AND THE STATES OF
SOUTHERN FRANCE
1194-1250
Permanence of Arab Ideas in the South of Europe Social Cor-
ruption Revolts against the Papacy Antagonism of the
Holy See and the German Empire Consolidation of the
Papal Power under Innocent III. Civilizing Agencies in
Sicily Influence of the Normans as Heirs of the Arabs
Birth of Frederick II. Character of Innocent III. Genius
of the Emperor His Reforms System of Jurisprudence
Commerce Legislation The University of Naples The
Medical School of Salerno Character of Frederick His
Court The South of France Its Early Civilization Cos-
mopolitan Character of its Population Its Wealth, Intelli-
gence, and Profligacy Debased Condition of the Clergy
The University of Montpellier The Troubadours The Al-
bigenses Their Defiance of Rome A Crusade is preached
against Them They are annihilated Cruelty of the Cru-
saders Parallel between the Civilization of Sicily and
Languedoc Survival of the Philosophical Principles and
Opinions of the Thirteenth Century.
The extraordinary impulse to scientific investiga-
tion, to historical research, to the development and
perfection of the industrial arts, to the extension of
commerce, to the improvement of the social and eco-
VOL. III. 1
2 History of the
nomic conditions which are so intimately connected
with the comfort and happiness of mankind, imparted
by the Saracen kingdoms of Southern Europe, was
far from being destroyed by the absorption or con-
quest of their provinces or by the final extinction of
their empire. The progress of their humanizing in-
fluence upon other nations had been slow and im-
perceptible. The philosophical ideas and principles
advanced by the Arab universities were necessarily
hostile to the doctrines of Christianity, to the opinions
of the Fathers, to the inspiration of an infallible
Pope, to the imperious claims of ecclesiastical suprem-
acy. In consequence of their heretical tendency, they
were perused in secret; and the diligence with which
this prohibited literature was studied is revealed by
the number of sects which arose, and the defiance of
Papal authority, which is the distinguishing charac-
teristic of European annals during the first half of
the thirteenth century. The doctrines taught at Cor-
dova and Palermo inspired those audacious mediaeval
reformers, far in advance of their age, whose aspira-
tions for intellectual and religious liberty were
promptly and mercilessly extinguished at the stake
and on the scaffold. The spirit of resistance to Papal
aggression, corruption, and tyranny, temporarily
checked, in time revived, and found permanent ex-
pression in the bold and revolutionary theories of the
Reformation. These great and radical changes were
not spontaneously effected; the causes of their de-
velopment had been in silent operation for many
centuries.
The schools of Moslem Spain and Sicily had long
been the resort of students, ambitious of literary
attainments and distinction, from every country in
Europe. Princes of Castile and France had for
generations enjoyed the benefits of the educational
advantages to be obtained in the Spanish Peninsula.
Moorish Empire in Europe 3
The proximity of the pohshed and luxurious towns
of Sicily to the ancient seat of Roman greatness
and power had produced a corresponding elf ect, less
evident and less durable, it is true, but still most civil-
izing and beneficial, upon the ferocious barbarism
which had succeeded the cruel and shameless vices
of the Caesars. The sacerdotal order had profited
more largely than all others by the learning of the
Mohammedans. Pope Sylvester II., the most ac-
complished ecclesiastic of his time, whose prodigious
acquirements caused him to be accused of sorcery
and led to his assassination by poison, was educated
at the University of Cordova. Roger Bacon, another
reputed wizard, had deeply imbibed the heretical but
fascinating opinions of the sages of the Tagus and
the Guadalquivir. In almost every European monas-
tery, whose inmates, corrupted by wealth and de-
praved by sensual indulgence, had abandoned the
ascetic habits of the cloister, the infidel works of the
Arabian philosophers were studied with curiosity and
delight by jovial monks, long strangers to the vows
inculcated as cardinal precepts by the regulations of
their order.
With the secular clergy, whose ostentatious luxury
was proverbial, the case was even worse. While con-
siderations of policy and self-interest prevented the
avowal of principles totally at variance with the tenets
of their profession, the fact that those principles were
entertained was far from being a secret. The influ-
ential prelates of the Church, ignorant or heedless of
the prejudicial effects which must inevitably ensue
from familiarity with the works of the Moslem phi-
losophers, did not vigorously attempt to suppress them
until the mischief they had produced was almost
irreparable. The unbelief and moral obliquity of
the clergy reacted upon their flocks. The latter saw
fii'st with surprise, then with indifference the ill-
4 History of the
concealed skepticism and open immorality of their
spiritual counsellors. As a result of this lax and in-
consistent behavior, society became permeated with
hypocrisy. The popular tales of the Middle Ages,
many of them undoubtedly founded on fact, indicate
only too plainly the estimation in which the clergy
were held by the people. That such pictures of eccle-
siastical life could be drawn and published without
interference or punishment shows not only the extent
of the evil, but the recognition of its existence by every
class of the community. The licentious stories of the
mediaeval writers were read or repeated with delight
both in the palace of the noble and the hovel of the
serf. One of the most remarkable of these collections
owes its origin to the patronage of Louis XI., the
Most Christian King of France.
Although the clergy, and especially the members
of the monastic orders, were, in these facetious pro-
ductions, uniformly represented as objects of hatred
and contempt, the practice of the vices and weak-
nesses imputed to them was evidently so common to
their calling as not even to arouse those feelings of
resentment which would naturally arise from accusa-
tions so nearly affecting their piety and virtue. So
little attention, indeed, was paid to these disclosures
of the habits of ecclesiastics, that their recital formed
one of the ordinary diversions of conventual life,
and the Gesta Romanorum, which long maintained
a questionable celebrity, is a monkish compilation.
When the spiritual guides of a community are
deliberately held up to ridicule as the incarnation of
all that is vile, rapacious, and bestial, their usefulness
as directors of the public conscience and arbiters of
private morals is at an end. Their pernicious example
was not lost upon the people, although their influence
for good declined. Universal corruption became the
most prominent trait of every rank of society. The
Moorish Empire in Europe 5
most glaring acts of impiety remained unrebuked.
National faith and personal obligations were alike
unblushingly violated. Every revolting crime was
committed by those whose means were sufficient to
appease sacerdotal venality and purchase temporary
absolution. No epoch in European history presents
a more distressing picture of social demoraliza-
tion, of royal perfidy, of priestly hypocrisy, of uni-
versal wickedness, than the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. But while this condition of affairs was
productive of widespread moral debasement, it was
not wholly an unmixed evil. The weakening of the
sentiments of fatuous reverence with which things
denominated sacred had for ages been regarded,
awakened among the masses a spirit of intellectual
independence. The right of the exercise of private
judgment began to be first tolerated, and afterwards
tacitly recognized. Then originated the great moral
revolution which, subsequently checked and almost
overwhelmed by the power of the Papacy and dis-
graced by scenes of horror to which history affords
no parallel, ended in the momentous struggle of the
sixteenth century, and the permanent triumph of
reason over dogma, of intelligence over ecclesiastical
authority.
But it was not only by the removal of superstitious
prejudice, through the comparison of creeds, the ju-
dicious employment of the principles of philosophical
criticism, and the public exposure of the lives of the
clergy, that this great and beneficial change was ac-
complished. The commerce of the European Mos-
lems was almost coextensive with the world at that
time familiar to mariners. The excellence and beauty
of their wares, unequalled by those of any other
nation, were eagerly sought after by the wealthy and
luxurious inhabitants of Christian countries. Mer-
chants, traders, and students had spread far and wide
6 History of the
accounts of the marvels to be seen beyond the Pyr-
enees, opulent and flourishing communities, where
the meanest citizen was in the daily enjoyment of
comforts unattainable as luxuries by the greatest
potentates of Christendom ; edifices whose decorations
surpassed in richness the wildest conceptions of Ori-
ental fiction ; vast plantations, where fruits, unknown
to colder climes, grew in prodigal abundance; cara-
vansaries and markets crowded with a profusion of
costly fabrics, and resounding with a Babel of strange
and guttural tongues; institutions of learning fre-
quented by tens of thousands of students, whose at-
tainments extraordinary in a world of ignorance
were believed to have been secured by an unholy com-
pact with the infernal powers.
The existence of this civilization in close proximity
to the semi-barbarous Mediterranean nations and the
salutary experience of its benefits could not fail to
produce upon the latter a deep and lasting impres-
sion. The Crusades, also, to some extent had enlarged
the minds of the fierce warriors of the West. Their
respect had been inspired by the equal valor and supe-
rior intelligence of their Mohammedan adversaries;
and a Saracen was no longer, as formerly, considered
a demon incarnate, destitute of honor, insatiable of
blood, incapable of compassion, ignorant alike of the
courtesies of war and the suggestions of humanity.
These various moral and physical agencies, acting
through the maintenance of maritime intercourse and
the promiscuous association with travellers of every
description, gradually produced effects long unper-
ceived and unappreciated by the class whose material
interests were most vitally endangered.
The dawn of the thirteenth century witnessed the
outbreak and the arrest of two most significant move-
ments of the human mind, destined to exercise im-
Moorish Empire in Europe 7
mense influence on the intellectual character and po-
litical destiny of Europe. The one appeared in Sicily;
arose under the auspices and was supported by the
power of the Emperor Frederick II., that prodigy
of mediaeval learning and diplomacy, great by birth,
and, through the hereditary traditions of his line, still
greater through the talents with which he was en-
dowed and the accomplishments that adorned his
character ; a colossal figure among the pygmy soldiers
and churchmen of his time; a combination of oppo-
site and eccentric qualities; brave but treacherous,
impetuous but crafty; a skeptic, and an unrelenting
persecutor of heretics ; at one time heading a crusade
for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre; at another
marshalling Saracen armies against the partisans of
the Pope ; a vassal of the Holy See, and an open ally
and friend of the infidel; a professed champion of
Christianity, while endeavoring to wrest from its
acknowledged head that spiritual dominion which
invested him with unlimited power over the lives, the
fortunes, and the ultimate destiny of men ; legislator,
troubadour, author, naturahst; " a poet in an age of
schoolmen, a philosopher in an age of monks, a states-
man in an age of crusaders."
The other intellectual revolution against ecclesiasti-
cal traditions and Papal despotism originated in the
sunny lands of Provence and Languedoc, between the
Mediterranean and the Pyrenees. That region, early
overrun and colonized by the Saracen, had long re-
mained subject to the Mohammedan princes of Spain.
Although nominally Christian, its population was
deeply infected with heterodox and atheistical opin-
ions. The country had never lost the characteristics
peculiar to the Moslem conqueror, the intelligent
and persevering cultivation of the soil, the venture-
some spirit of commercial enterprise, the development
and profitable adaptation of every natural resource.
8 History of the
the pride of ostentatious luxury, the profound distrust
of the female sex, which condemns its members to
the seclusion of the harem. Amidst the freedom and
gayety of its semi-Oriental cities, sectaries of every
creed lived unquestioned and undisturbed. Polygamy
was practised without concealment or reproach;
scarcely a castle of count or baron was without
its numerous seraglio. Education was general, and
remarkable in its scope and efficiency when contrasted
with the ignorance of contemporaneous societies. The
famous University of Montpellier, a manifestation of
the intellectual ideas and spirit which pervaded the
South of France, was for generations a monument of
the progress and erudition of the inhabitants of Lan-
guedoc. Among the public teachers were many Jews
and Mohammedans, who, in addition to the profound
and varied learning of the schools of Cordova,
brought to the notice of a curious and speculative
race theories that boded ill to the ecclesiastical estab-
lishment, which, stained with every hideous and dis-
gusting vice, was fast sinking into universal and
deserved contempt. The practice of improvisation,
the composition of extemporaneous poetry, de-
rived from the imaginative but unlettered tribes of
the Arabian Desert, and for generations the delight
of the capitals of Moorish Spain, found here its most
fascinating expression and its highest development.
Next to the prince himself, the troubadour was the
most important personage of the Proven9al court.
His accomplishments, often acquired by association
with the Moslem, were the envy of the cavalier and
the horror of the priest. His elegant manners and
poetical talents gained for him the passionate adora-
tion of high-born ladies, whose beauty he celebrated
in florid and licentious verse. His satires were often
directed against the clergy, whose lives too readily
furnished cause for ridicule and censure. With him
Moorish Empire in Europe 9
occasionally travelled the jongleur, who, to the reci-
tation of amorous chants, added the charm of har-
monious minstrelsy. The ditties of the troubadours,
like the coarse and facetious tales of this and subse-
quent periods, afforded an unfailing index of popu-
lar taste and prevalent opinions. In their lays the
ecclesiastic is almost invariably an object of derision.
His hypocrisy, his licentiousness, his greed, are de-
picted in language which admits of no palliating or
ambiguous interpretation. He is constantly repre-
sented as the proverbial embodiment of all that is
execrable and repulsive. If a butt for ridicule was
needed, to give an appropriate climax to a story com-
posed for the amusement of the court, the monastery
could be relied upon to furnish an inexhaustible num-
ber of subjects, whose foibles were at once recognized
by the delighted and scoffing auditors. The sacred
calling of the ministers of religion was constantly
made the occasion of ribald pleasantry; the tricks of
practical jokers were played with impunity upon
every incumbent of the sacerdotal dignity, from the
haughty bishop to the cowled and barefooted friar.
Even the populace, in whom the spirit of superstitious
reverence is always the first to be awakened and the
last to be destroyed, shared in an equal degree the
feelings of their superiors. The vagrant rhymer, de-
claiming his sarcastic verses in the streets or by the
wayside, was always sure of a liberal and appreciative
audience. Such a condition of society indicates a cer-
tain degree of intellectual progress which can only
result from independence of thought and moral irre-
sponsibility of action. The extraordinary opinion
began to be advanced and largely accepted that the
investiture of the priesthood, of itself, conveyed no
special virtue which dispensed with the rules of social
morality or conferred immunity from public criti-
cism. This idea, at variance with all the traditions
10 History of the ,
of a Church which attached the highest importance to
the rigid observance of mere f ormahties, was followed
by others of even more novel and startling character.
The unbroken intercourse with the Moslem princi-
palities of the Peninsula had introduced into a coun-
try, whose people might, in some degree, justly claim
consanguinity with the Saracens of Andalusia, the
arts, the philosophy, and the erudition which had long
embellished the accomplished courts of the Western
Khalif ate. Hence arose the popularity of the works
of Averroes, and the general familiarity with the pan-
theistic ideas of Indian origin, subsequently adopted
by the heretical sects which, from time to time, sprang
up to vex the Papal orthodoxy of Europe. With their
importation into France, the doctrines of the Arab
philosophers were invested with a far broader signifi-
cance than had ever been claimed by those who first
inculcated their truths. The gay ballads of the South
assumed a greater license of sentiment and language
than their prototypes, whose freedom had provoked
the censure of the Mohammedan society of the Gua-
dalquivir, little inclined to displays of prudish moral-
ity. It was from such beginnings that were derived
the suggestions of those memorable religious revolu-
tions which, headed by Wyclif in England, Huss in
Bohemia, and Luther in Germany, in defiance of the
tremendous power of the Vatican, impressed an in-
delible seal upon the character and belief of so large
a portion of the inhabitants of the civilized globe.
The influence that Troubadour and Trouvere poets
and minstrels during their incessant wanderings
exerted upon the provincial dialects in which their
productions were composed, and the extensive dis-
tribution of the latter, did more than all else to form
and perfect the language of France. It was the same
in Italy. That country also indirectly owes the sweet
and musical accents of its graceful idiom, equally
Moorish Empire in Europe 11
adapted to the descriptions of the historian, the rep-
resentations of the dramatist, and the melodious ver-
sification of the poet, to a race foreign in all its char-
acteristics and traditions to that quarter of the world
where it exercised its greatest power. As with poetry,
so it was with other manifestations of genius. Much
of the architecture of Southern Europe, and espe-
cially those buildings devoted to religious worship,
present unmistakable evidences of their Moorish
origin; and thus the law of Mohammed, while it
failed to retain its dominion over the minds of men,
was enabled to perpetuate the memory of the arts,
which it promoted in the construction of magnificent
and imposing edifices raised for the celebration of the
rites of another and an inimical religion. In a thou-
sand ways, the march of intellectual improvement,
suggested by the presence and example of Moslem
skill and learning, was accelerated in the provinces
of the South of France. The active minds of the
inhabitants of the valley of the Rhone devoured with
eagerness the extravagant tales of Moorish fiction,
and their curiosity was stimulated by the study of the
maxims of Plato and Aristotle contained in Arabic
versions of those writers. Their manners insensibly
became softened, their ideas were enlarged, their tastes
were cultivated; they no longer regarded the torture
of heretics and the massacre of infidels as conform-
able to the precepts of a religion based upon " peace
and good-will to men." With deep disgust they threw
off their allegiance to the Church of Rome. Woman,
hitherto a slave, subjected to the caprice of an im-
perious and irresponsible master, was raised by the
hand of chivalry and made the cherished companion, if
not the equal, of her lord. Semi-barbarous Europe
looked with wonder upon a land so blessed by nature
and adorned by art; where the remains of classic an-
tiquity were taught in the same schools with the botany
12 History of the
of Syria and the chemistry of Spain; where a philo-
sophic spirit of inquiry had awakened the noblest
aspirations of the human intellect, and where knightly
courtesy had replaced the rudeness of the sword.
This advanced civilization had, unfortunately, come
four centuries too soon. The fears of the Papacy
were excited, and a ferocious crusade, which spared
neither rank, age, sex, nor infirmity, was published
against the unfortunate Albigenses. Upon the ruins
of one of the most refined societies that had arisen
to instruct mankind since the days of Athenian great-
ness, a society which embodied all that was interesting,
learned, profitable, or entertaining in human life, was
erected the Inquisition, the bane of science, and the
implacable foe of civil and religious liberty.
The great contest of the thirteenth century between
the Empire and the Holy See for the mastery of the
world derived its origin from the barbarian occupation
of Italy. The imperial dignity of the Csesars em-
bodied, as is well known, not only its supreme exer-
cise, but the prestige and the mysterious power which
attached to the place of Pontif ex JMaximus, the proto-
type of the Papacy. That power had been solemnly
confirmed, and materially enlarged, by the ambition
and politic measures of Constantine. The occasional
employment of the Bishop of Rome as arbiter of the
differences between the Sees of Constantinople and
Alexandria had magnified the importance and insen-
sibly extended the jurisdiction of his office. Aspiring
prelates, who held their court on the banks of the
classic Tiber, in sight of the stupendous memorials
of ancient civilization, soon began to arrogate to them-
selves a preponderance in the determination of secular
matters to which their comparatively obscure prede-
cessors had advanced no claim. The texts of Scrip-
ture were invoked and interpreted to confirm their
pretensions. In addition to the alleged vicarious sov-
Moorish Empire in Europe 13
ereignty vested in them by the traditional choice of
the Saviour, they asserted that the privileges and
authority enjoyed by the Pontifex Maximus were
theirs by the right of inheritance. They insisted,
moreover, that as celestial matters were of far greater
importance to mankind than any connected with the
affairs of a transitory life, the sacredness of their
exalted position conferred extraordinary prerogatives,
and that the imperial power was subordinate to, and,
under some circumstances, actually merged into, the
pontifical dignity. By thus shrewdly taking advan-
tage of every circumstance which could either
strengthen its influence or extend its jurisdiction,
the Holy See subjected to its tyrannical and irrespon-
sible sway a far more extensive and populous terri-
tory than had ever paid reluctant tribute to the masters
of imperial Rome. Excommunication, anathema, and
interdict, the means by which this tremendous au-
thority was enforced, were moral instruments which
appealed with irresistible force to the fears of a
superstitious age.
The barbarian invasions, which swept away the last
vestige of imperial greatness, introduced the heretical
doctrines of Arius into Southern Europe. The re-
ligious antagonism resulting from the incessant clash
of adverse opinions was perpetuated by the mutual
jealousies of king and bishop, until the accession of
Charlemagne practically united in the hands of that
emperor the temporal and sacerdotal powers, the
dominion of the earth, and the control of an order
whose members were universally regarded as media-
tors with heaven. With his death the exercise of the
exalted prerogative of spiritual jurisdiction reverted
to the Papacy. The claim to its enjoyment was never
afterwards successfully urged by any monarch who
was entitled, by right of inheritance, to the dignities
and privileges of the Carlovingian empire. By de-
14 History of the
grees, the resistless influence of intellectual supe-
riority, quietly, but none the less powerfully exerted,
began to manifest itself. It was to the fact that the
Church monopolized all the learning of early mediaeval
times, even more than to the reverence that attached
to the holy calling of its ministers, that its boundless
power over the most truculent and merciless bar-
barians is to be attributed. A mysterious and exag-
gerated importance was ascribed to that profession
whose members held communion with past ages ; who
called down the blessings or the maledictions of
celestial beings in a tongue unlvnown to the vulgar;
who communicated, in unintelligible characters, with
the learned and the wise of distant nations; and who,
in the seclusion of the laboratory, indulged in pursuits
condemned by the canons of their faith, but occasion-
ally productive of results whose character, remarkable
for that epoch, not infrequently acquired for the
monkish chemist the unenviable and perilous title of
conjuror. The hterary and scientific attainments
acquired in the cloister bore, however, no comparison
to the erudition of those countries where Saracen
energy and munificence had long promoted the exer-
cise and expansion of the highest faculties of the
human intellect. The knowledge possessed by the
clergy was only extensive by contrast with the impene-
trable ignorance by which they were surrounded, and
which it was their interest to diligently propagate and
maintain.
The era which witnessed the climax of Papal su-
premacy was coincident v/ith the most thoroughly
concerted and menacing attempt at its overthrow
ever directed by any secular potentate. The birth of
Frederick II. preceded the election of Innocent III.
to the Holy See only three years. In the deadly
struggle that arose between these two mighty antago-
nists, a struggle which was far more pohtical than
Moorish Empire in Europe 15
religious, and whose tempting prize was the dominion
of the earth, the influence of the Saracen was a
powerful, and, in many instances, a predominant
factor. Moslem laws, institutions, and customs had
for centuries, amidst communities hostile in origin and
belief, survived alike the existence of their own dy-
nasties and the domination of their conquerors. Tribal
dissensions and hereditary enmity had prompted and
facilitated the destruction of the splendid ]\Ioham-
medan empire in Sicily. In its turn, the Norman
kingdom, after a prolonged and stormy existence, in
which the Moorish tributaries played no inconsiderable
part, lost its identity; and, by the marriage of Con-
stance, the mother of Frederick II., with Henry VI.,
was merged into the German Empire. During the
great political and moral revolutions which disposed
of crowns and repeatedly changed the destinies of the
island, the Arab element of the population maintained
an undisputed superiority in arts, in commerce, in
literature, in short, in all professions and employ-
ments save that of war alone. The semi-barbarian
conqueror, whose only passports to distinction were
the dexterity with which he wielded lance and sword
and the undaunted courage with which he faced ten-
fold odds, early recognized the advantages of that in-
tellectual power which enabled his Moorish vassals to
cope with, and overreach, in both trade and diplo-
macy, the astute politicians of Christian Italy. This
exotic population, notwithstanding the successive ca-
lamities which had afflicted it, exhibited through long
periods of time no extraordinary diminution of num-
bers, a fact no doubt largely attributable to the preva-
lence of polygamous customs. In the centre of the
island many Moorish settlements, defended by im-
pregnable fortresses, subsisting by pastoral occupa-
tions, and whose comparative poverty offered little
inducement to invasion, remained in tranquillity and
16 History of the
in the enjoyment of a rustic independence. In the
great seaports, on the other hand, the Moslem tribu-
taries retained under foreign domination all of the
refinement and much of the splendor which had distin-
guished the luxurious court of the emirs. In these
vast emporiums, where were constantly assembled
the merchants of every Christian and of every Mo-
hammedan state, a numerous, motley, and industrious
people pursued, without oppression or hinderance, all
the avocations of thriving mercantile communities.
The peculiar adaptability of the genius of the Nor-
man to novel social and political conditions, a quality
which was the main source of his prosperity and great-
ness, was never more prominently displayed than after
the conquest which transferred the sceptre of Sicily
from one race of foreign adventurers to another.
No more striking antagonism of national customs,
religious prejudices, habits, and traditions could be
conceived than that existing between the victor and
the vanquished. One came from the borders of the
Arctic Circle; the original home of the other was in
the Torrid Zone. Both traced their lineage to tribes
steeped in barbarism and idolatry; but the Norman,
though he had changed his system of worship, still
retained many of its objectionable and degrading
features, while the Arab professed a creed that re-
garded with undisguised abhorrence the adoration of
images and the invocation of saints. In the arts of
civilization, there was no corresponding advance which
could suggest resemblance or justify comparison.
Poverty, ignorance, ferocity, still remained the char-
acteristics of the Norman, as when, with a handful
of resolute companions, he scattered to the winds the
armies of the Sicilian Mussulman. The latter, how-
ever, if inferior in endurance and martial energy to
his conqueror, was possessed of accomplishments
which justly entitled him to a prominent rank in the
Moorish Empire in Europe 17
community of nations. No circumstance of honor, of
distinction, of inventive genius, was wanting to exalt
his character or magnify his reputation. The fame
of his miHtary achievements had filled the world. His
commercial relations had made his name familiar to
and respected by remote and jealous races, to whom
the Christian kingdoms of Europe were unknown.
His civil polity was admirably adapted to the character
and necessities of the people its laws were intended to
govern. Under those laws, administered by a succes-
sion of great princes, Moslem society had become opu-
lent, polished, and dissolute beyond all example, but
eventually and inevitably enervated and decadent.
Political and social disorganization had not, however,
entirely destroyed the prestige earned by ages of
military glory and intellectual pre-eminence. The
schools of Cordova had been swept away by hordes
of African fanatics. Her libraries had been scattered
or destroyed. Her incomparable palaces had been
levelled with the ground or had succumbed to the
gradual decay to which they had been abandoned by
ferocious chieftains, alike ignorant of the arts and
indifferent to the claims of civilization. But the glory
of the fallen metropolis had been reflected upon the
provincial capitals of a distracted and dismembered
monarchy. Malaga, Granada, Toledo, Seville, were
still celebrated as seats of learning; civil war had in-
terrupted but not extinguished the pursuit of science ;
a taste for letters counteracted in some degree the
thirst for blood which prompted the atrocities of tribal
hate and hostile faction; and the chivalrous inter-
course established at intervals between the two races
contending for national superiority afforded a happy
if a deceptive image of affluence and security. The
Sicihan Mohammedans, while the vicissitudes and
calamities of their history presented in miniature a
general resemblance to those experienced by their
Vol. III. 2
18 History of the
brethren of the Spanish Peninsula, were never sub-
jected to such repeated and overwhelming disasters
as fell to the lot of the subjects of the Ommeyade
dynasty and of the principalities which inherited its
enmities, and the shattered fragments of its once vast
and populous but cumbersome empire. The Norman
acquisition of Sicily, unlike the Spanish Reconquest,
was accomplished with surprising ease and rapidity.
In the former instance there was but little of that in-
discriminate ferocity which was characteristic of the
conflicts of the Middle Ages, and especially of these
where religious interests were directly involved. The
experience of the conquerors obtained in many lands
enabled them to appreciate the value of the monu-
ments of a highly developed civilization, whose pro-
moters were soon to pass under their sceptre. For
this reason there was no ruthless spoliation of cities,
no indiscriminate devastation of a fertile country
which had been reclaimed by infinite toil and perse-
verance from an unpromising prospect of marsh,
ravine, and precipice. The tangible results of three
hundred years of national progress and culture were
transmitted, with but little impairment, to the victori-
ous foreigner. These advantages were at once grasped
and appropriated with an avidity absolutely phenome-
nal in a people whose career had been dictated by the
predatory instincts of the bandit, and whose manners
had been formed amidst the license of the camp, the
superstition of the cloister, and the carnage of the
field.
Norman Sicily exhibited, to all intents and pur-
poses, a prolongation, under happier auspices, of that
dominion to which the island owed its prosperity and
its fame. The influence of Moorish thrift, capacity,
and skill was everywhere manifest and acknowledged.
Its silent operation facilitated its progress and in-
creased its power. The maritime interests of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 19
island were in the hands of the Moslems; they con-
trolled the finances ; they negotiated treaties ; to them
was largely confided the administration of justice and
the education of youth. Their integrity was acknowl-
edged even by those whose practices appeared most
unfavorable by contrast ; their versatile talents not in-
frequently raised them to the highest and most respon-
sible posts of the Norman court. That court is de-
clared by contemporary historians to have equalled in
splendor and culture those of Cairo and Bagdad. This
comparison, while the highest encomium that could be
pronounced upon its grandeur and brilliancy, also de-
noted unmistakably the Oriental influence which per-
vaded it. Great dignitaries, with pompous titles and
retinues imposing in numbers and magnificence, exer-
cised the principal employments of the crown. A rigid
system of subordination and accountability was estab-
lished, governing the conduct of the minor officials
in their relations to their superiors and to the sover-
eign. The gradations in rank of these civil magistrates
were numerous, and their respective duties plainly and
accurately defined. The system of fiefs had never
obtained in Northern Italy, owing to the extraordi-
nary growth of maritime enterprise, the mutual jeal-
ousies engendered by commercial rivalry, the preju-
dices of the Lombard population, hostile to the
restraints and abuses which the adoption of that
system implied, the foundation of many independent
and wealthy communities, conditions naturally in-
compatible with the maintenance of an establishment
based upon obligations of military service and baronial
protection. In Apulia and Northern Sicily, however,
Norman domination transplanted, to some extent, the
laws and customs of Western Europe, which found a
congenial soil in provinces already familiar with the
exactions of Saracen despotism. But the feudal sys-
tem of Norman rule had lost much of its original
20 History of the
severity, and had been curtailed of those oppressive
privileges with difficulty endured even in countries for
centuries accustomed to the suffering and degradation
they entailed. These modifications were so extensive
and radical as to be almost revolutionary in their na-
ture. The disputes of lord and vassal, of noble and
suzerain, were decided by a court of judicature. Vil-
leinage, as recognized elsewhere in Europe, was practi-
cally unknown. While the villein was attached to the
glebe and passed with its transfer, he could not be
persecuted with impunity ; he could own property and
alienate it, make wills, ransom his services, and, in
many other respects, exercise the rights of a freeman,
while still subject to the disabilities of a serf. The
days of compulsory labor enjoined upon him were
prescribed by law. His testimony was admissible in
the trial of causes ; he could not be illegally deprived
of the results of his industry when his duties to his
lord had been faithfully discharged; and, under cer-
tain circumstances, he was permitted to enter the cleri-
cal profession, whose opportunities might open to an
aspiring zealot a career of the highest distinction.
The barbarian prejudices of the Norman conqueror
survived in many institutions inherited from ages of
gross superstition and ignorance. Among these were
the absurd and iniquitous trials by fire, water, and
judicial combat, prevalent in societies dominated
partly by priestcraft and partly by the sword. But
more correct ideas of the true character of evidence
and its application, acquired from association with a
people familiar with the codes of Justinian and Mo-
hammed, eventually mitigated the evils produced by
such irrational procedure; and, while not entirely
abandoned, its most offensive features were gradually
suffered to become obsolete. In other respects, the
administration of justice for the excellence of its
system, for the rapidity with which trials were con-
Moorish Empire in Europe 21
ducted, for the opportunity afforded the htigant for
appeal and reversal of judgment was remarkable.
Invested with a sacred character, the judge, in the
honor of his official position, was inferior to the king
alone. His person was inviolable. No one might
question his motives or dispute his authority under
penalty of sacrilege. The head of the supreme court
of the kingdom, by which all questions taken on appeal
from the inferior tribunals were finally adjudicated,
was called the Grand Justiciary. His powers and
dignity claimed and received the highest consideration.
None but men conspicuously eminent for learning and
integrity were raised to this exalted office. The Grand
Justiciary, although frequently of plebeian extrac-
tion, took precedence of the proud nobility, whose
titles, centuries old and gained in Egypt and Pales-
tine, had already become historic. A silken banner,
the emblem of his office, was carried before him. In
public assemblies and royal audiences he sat at the
left hand of the sovereign. Only the constable, of all
the officials of the crown, approached him in rank.
These unusual honors paid to a dignitary whose title
to respect was due, not to personal prowess or to
hereditary distinction, but to the reverence attaching
to his employment, indicate a great advance in the
character of a people which, but a few years before,
acknowledged no law but that of physical superiority,
no tribunal but that of arms. In the other depart-
ments of government in finance, in legislation, in
the regulations of commerce, in the protection and
encouragement of agriculture, in the maintenance of
order the Norman domination in Sicily presented an
example of advanced civilization to be seen nowhere
else in Europe, except in the ^loorish principalities
of Spain. The system of taxation not only embraced
regular assessments, but authorized such extraordinary
contributions as might be required for the construction
22 History of the
of great public works or demanded by the exigencies
of war. A powerful and well-equipped navy en-
forced the authority and protected the rights of the
Norman kings in the Mediterranean. In the classi-
fication of orders, ecclesiastics were not, as elsewhere,
granted extraordinary privileges by reason of their
sacred profession. Those of rank were enrolled
among the feudatories ; the inferior clergy were rele-
gated to the intermediate grade of subjects placed
between the noble and the serf ; all were, equally with
the laity, responsible for infractions of the laws. The
monarch was the head of the Church under the Pope ;
the office of Papal legate, which he usurped, was as-
sumed, by a convenient fiction, to have been trans-
mitted by inlieritance ; he exercised the rights of the
erection of bishoprics, the presentation of benefices,
the translation of prelates, the exemption of abbeys;
he imposed taxes on the priesthood, and, when occa-
sion demanded, did not hesitate to seize and appro-
priate property set aside for the uses of public wor-
ship. In his dominions, the Pope, while the nominal
head of Christendom, was merely a personage of sec-
ondary importance, with little real influence and with
no prestige save that derived from his venerated title
and from his residence in that city which had once
given laws to the world. The Papacy, it is true, had
not yet fully established those portentous claims to
empire which subsequently brought the most remote
countries under its jurisdiction; but its aspiring pon-
tiff's had already laid the foundations of their despo-
tism; and this defiance of their authority, at the very
gates of the capital of Christendom, was fraught with
the most vital consequences to the future peace and
welfare of Europe.
No people presented greater variety in manners,
language, habits, and religion than that of Norman
Sicily. The mingling of strange tongues, the constant
Moorish Empire in Europe 23
recurrence of picturesque costumes, denoted the pres-
ence of many distinct nationalities. In general, al-
though close relations were maintained and intermar-
riages were common, the different races were distrib-
uted in separate quarters and districts, and existed as
castes. Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, as well as the
harsh and barbaric dialects of Germany and France,
were spoken; the laws of each nation were suffered
to prevail, except when they conflicted with the su-
preme authority; enforced proselytism and religious
persecution were unknown; and, in a society of such
a diversified character, it was impossible that national
prejudice could obtain a permanent foothold. The
tendency of public opinion, as well as the policy of
the government, was towards the indulgence of re-
ligious and intellectual freedom. In no respect was
this liberality so apparent as in the treatment of the
Jews. Elsewhere in Europe they were considered the
legitimate prey of every oppressor ; liable to be trans-
ferred by entire communities, like so many cattle,
from one petty tyrant to another ; robbed and tortured
with impunity ; incapacitated from invoking the pro-
tection of the laws; rendered powerless by centuries
of systematic oppression to exert the right of self-
defence or to successfully appeal to arms in an age of
anarchy and violence. In Sicily, under the Normans,
an enlightened public sentiment dictated the measures
pursued in the treatment of an enterprising but un-
fortunate people. Their usefulness to the state was
recognized by the immunities they enjoyed. For
generations, no badge of infamy or servitude made
them conspicuous in the crowded streets; no onerous
taxes were laid upon them as a class; they shared, in
large measure, the rights and privileges of other citi-
zens ; no tribunal was permitted to discriminate against
them in the dispensation of justice; they were not
prohibited from exercising the profession of bankers,
24 History of the
but the rate of interest they might exact was limited
to ten per cent.
The lustre of Saracen civilization was rather height-
ened than tarnished by the Norman conquest. The
stability and confidence which the rule of the victors
produced more than compensated for the damage in-
evitably resulting from their military operations. The
supremacy of law was everywhere established. Tribal
animosity, which had been the curse of Moslem so-
ciety, was suppressed, if not entirely eradicated. The
seaports increased rapidly in extent and opulence.
Palaces of equal dimensions and beauty, but more
substantial in their construction, replaced the airy and
picturesque villas which had displayed the taste of the
Moorish princes. Massive stairways afforded access
to the broad stone quays encumbered with the mer-
chandise of the Mediterranean. The narrow and tor-
tuous thoroughfares of the Orient gave way to wide
and well-paved avenues adapted to the commercial
necessities of a numerous trading population. As
formerly, under Greek and Moslem, Palermo ex-
hibited, in the highest degree, the influence and prog-
ress of the arts of civilization. Its citadel, defended
by every resource of military science, was of such
extent as to merit of itself the appellation of a city.
Here were situated the warehouses, the bazaars, the
baths, the markets, the churches, and the mosques.
Above it rose the castle reared by the Normans, the
solid blocks which composed its walls being covered
with arabesques and inscriptions. The residences of
the merchants and the nobility were conspicuous for
their number and elegance; the royal palace was in
itself a marvel of architectural grandeur and sybaritic
luxury. But the edifices which sti-uck the imagina-
tion of the stranger most forcibly were the two great
shrines respectively allotted to Christian and to JNIos-
lem worship. Sectarian rivalry had exhausted itself
Moorish Empire in Europe 25
in their construction and adornment. The mosque was
one of the most superb in all Islam. Its beauty was
enhanced by its rich tapestries, and by the exquisite
coloring and gilding it exhibited in the delicate carv-
ings which embellished its interior. But grand and
beautiful as it was, the Christian cathedral was gen-
erally conceded to surpass it in those material attrac-
tions which appeal most strongly to the senses of the
enthusiastic and the devout. Arab writers have vied
with each other in celebrating the majesty and splen-
dor of this famous temple. The combined skill of
the Moorish and the Byzantine artist had been laid
under contribution in its embellishment. The walls
were incrusted with gold, whose dazzling brilliancy
was relieved by panels of precious marble of various
colors bordered with foliage of green mosaic. The
columns were sculptured with floral ornaments, inter-
spersed with inscriptions in Cufic characters. The
lofty cupola, covered with glistening tiles, was one of
the landmarks of the capital, and, projected against
the cloudless sky, was the most prominent object which
caught the eye of the expectant mariner. Around the
city, rising in terraces, like the seats of an amphi-
theatre, were the suburbs, verdant with the luxuriant
vegetation of every country that could be reached by
the enterprise of man, through whose leafy screen
appeared at intervals the gayly painted villas of the
merchant princes or the sumptuous and imposing
palaces of the Norman aristocracy.
Amidst the numerous measures originated and
brought to maturity by the new domination, it is
remarkable that no especial encouragement was
afforded to institutions of learning. A tradition
exists of the academy of the great Count Roger,
but it is only a tradition. No national university
was founded to perpetuate the fame or to exalt the
benefits of regal patronage. No general plan of pro-
26 History of the
moting the education of the masses was inaugurated.
The Jewish and Saracen schools, however, still sur-
vived; they were often the recipients of royal gener-
osity, and were resorted to by such Christians as were
desirous of profiting by the valuable instruction they
afforded. As elsewhere in Christendom, the clergy
were the general depositaries of knowledge, an ad-
vantage which they thoroughly understood, and were
by no means willing to voluntarily relinquish. In one
respect alone their power was seriously curtailed.
The spurious medicine of the time, as practised under
the sanction of the Holy See, had raised up a herd
of ignorant and mercenary ecclesiastical charlatans.
These operated by means of chants, relics, and incense ;
and their enormous gains were one of the chief sources
of revenue to the parish and the monastery, and a
corresponding burden on the people. King Roger
abolished this abuse, and required an examination, by
experienced physicians, of all candidates for the pro-
fession of medicine and surgery, restricting those
whose superstition was ineradicable or whose learning
was deficient to the clandestine ministrations of the
shrine and the confessional.
In the subjugated race, which had inherited the
wisdom and experience of many ages and peoples, is
to be discerned the principal, and indeed the indispen-
sable, factor of Norman prosperity and civilization.
Its characteristics had been deeply impressed upon the
various regulations which controlled the destinies of
the island; they reappeared in the military organiza-
tion, in the civil polity, in the social customs, in the
architectural designs, even in the religious ceremonial,
of the conquerors. The invaders were but a handful
in immber; but the moral influence they wielded,
through invincible valor, prodigious personal strength,
and inflexible tenacity of purpose, at once gave them
almost undisputed ascendency. These qualities, how-
Moorish Empire in Europe 27
ever, could not, unaided, found or maintain a flourish-
ing state eminent in those arts which contribute to the
welfare and opulence of nations. Oriental craft,
refinement, and learning were able, however, to supply
the deficiencies of whose existence the rude and un-
polished Western adventurers were thoroughly cog-
nizant. The Moslem stood high in the confidence and
favor of the Norman princes. Quick to appreciate
and meet the exigencies of every occasion, his prowess
was invaluable in the suppression of anarchy and the
estabhshment of order. Saracen cavalry were enrolled
by thousands in the Norman armies. Saracen coun-
cillors stood in the shadow of the throne. Saracens
collected taxes and administered the public revenues.
They conducted, with the artful diplomacy character-
istic of their race, important negotiations with foreign
powers. Their religious assemblies were protected
from intrusion and insult with the same solicitude
which assured the inviolability of Christian worship.
The unobstructed enjoyment and disposal of real and
personal property was accorded to them by the laws.
Their impress on the customs of social and domestic
life was deep and permanent. The prevailing lan-
guage of court and city alike was Arabic. Eunuchs,
in flowing robes and snowy turbans, swarmed in the
palaces of king, noble, and bishop. Dark-eyed
beauties of Moorish lineage filled the harems of the
martial and licentious aristocracy. The kadi, retain-
ing the insignia and authority of his original official
employment, was an important member of the Sicilian
judiciary. He not only determined the causes of his
countrymen, but was frequently the trusted adviser
of the monarch. From the summits of a hundred
minarets which seemed to pierce the skies, the muezzin,
shrilly intoning the prescribed verses of the Koran,
summoned the followers of Mohammed to prayer. As
28 History of the
was Palermo, such were the other Sicihan cities,
Messina, Syracuse, Enna, Agrigentum.
Moslem institutions, with the powerful influences
resulting from their universal adoption, thus main-
tained an overwhelming preponderance throughout
the provinces of the Norman kingdom. Even in
Apulia and Calabria, the original seat of the new
dynasty, the same conditions prevailed. The centre
of the Papal power and of the various states subject
to its immediate jurisdiction a jurisdiction already
important, but not as yet exercised with undisputed
authority could not fail to be profoundly impressed
by the proximity of this anomalous empire; where
Christian symbols and Koranic legends were blended
in the embellishment of cathedrals; where the cruci-
fixion and the mottoes of Mohammedan rulers were
impressed together upon the coinage of the realm;
where eminent prelates owed investiture, rendered
homage, and paid tribute to the secular power ; where
Moslem dignitaries not infrequently took precedence
of Papal envoys; and the hereditary enemies of
Christendom fought valiantly under the standard of
the Cross. Nor was the effect of this ominous ex-
ample confined to localities where daily familiarity
had caused it to lose its novelty. The traders who
visited the remote and semi-barbarous courts of Eu-
rope, the Crusaders who from time to time enjoyed
the hospitality of the Sicilian cities, the returned ad-
venturers who had served in the armies of the princely
House of De Hauteville, all spread, far and wide, ex-
aggerated and romantic accounts of the strange and
sacrilegious customs of the Norman monarchy. Ec-
clesiastics crossed themselves with dismay when they
heard of the honors lavished upon infidels, whose co-
religionists had profaned the Holy Sepulchre, evoking
gigantic expeditions which had depopulated entire
provinces and drained the wealth of credulous and
Moorish Empire in Europe 29
fanatic Europe. Others, whom study and reflection
had made wise beyond the age in which they hved,
saw, with open indifference and concealed dehght, in
this defiance and contempt of Popish tyranny, the
dawn of a brighter era, the prospect of the ultimate
emancipation of the human mind. The progress of
the mental and moral changes which affected Eu-
ropean society, acting through the intervention of
Norman influence in the political and religious life
of the continent, was gradual, indeterminate, and long
imperceptible, but incessant and powerful. The uni-
versal deficiency of the means of information, the
dearth of educational facilities, which promoted the
dependence of the masses upon the only class capable
of instructing and improving them, the terrible pen-
alties visited upon heresy, deferred for nearly three
hundred years the inevitable outbreak of an intellec-
tual revolution. The principles on which that revolu-
tion was based, although at first discussed furtively
and in secret, in time became so popular as to endanger
the empire of the Church and to seriously impair its
prestige.
The influence of the royal House of De Hauteville
was extended, magnified, perpetuated, by the imperial
House of Hohenstauf en. The traditions of the Arab,
inherited by the Norman, were transmitted to and be-
came the inspiration of the German. The genius of
Frederick II. impressed itself indelibly upon the en-
tire Teutonic race. It must not be forgotten that the
most formidable revolt against Papal tyranny and
corruption broke out in Saxony. The new German
Empire owes largely its commanding position in Eu-
rope and its exalted rank in the scale of civilization
to the talents, the energy, and the transcendent wisdom
of the greatest monarch of mediseval times.
The fierce struggle between the Papacy and the
Empire for universal rule began with the ascendency
30 History of the
of the House of Hohenstaufen, in the beginning of
the twelfth century. The princes of that House, emi-
nent for valor and diplomacy, early displayed a spirit
of insubordination towards the Holy See which au-
gured ill for the political supremacy which had begun
to be the leading object of its ambition. The Papal
power, not yet consolidated, nor even fully defined,
was unable to successfully oppose to the encroach-
ments of the haughty German sovereigns those meas-
ures which afterwards proved so effective against the
recalcitrant monarchs of Europe in the settlement of
disputes involving its doctrines and its authority.
The chaotic state of European politics made it impos-
sible for the Pope to enlist the aid of any potentate
able to withstand the tj'-rants of the North, whose am-
bition aimed at the absorption of St. Peter's patri-
mony, as their insolence had already menaced the in-
dependence of his throne. Diplomatic negotiation had
proved of no avail. The once formidable weapon of
excommunication was treated with contempt. No
other resource remained. The influence of the Empire
attained its maximum during the reign of Henry
VI.; and the Pope, surrounded on every side by
powerful and determined enemies, seemed about to
be degraded to the rank of an imperial vassal, when
the sudden death of the Emperor, and the election of
one of the greatest of the Supreme Pontiffs ever
raised to the chair of the Holy See, reversed the po-
litical and ecclesiastical conditions, to all appearances
firmly established, and upon whose maintenance so
much depended, and opened the way for a train of
calamities unequalled in their atrocious character by
any acts of tyranny that have ever stifled independent
thought or retarded the progress of human civiliza-
tion.
Innocent III., when elected to the Papal dignity,
was already a man of mature years, wide experience,
Moorish Empire in Europe 31
and established reputation. His abilities as a scholar
and a diplomatist, his familiarity with the principles
of theology and law, had made his name known and
respected throughout Europe, while the influence he
exerted in the councils of the Church, long before his
exaltation to its highest office, rendered him eminently
conspicuous in the ecclesiastical affairs of Italy. With
his extensive erudition and versatility of character
were united talents for intrigue and administration
equal to the most exacting requirements of statesman-
ship and command. Insinuating in address, jovial in
conversation, by turns haughty and affable in manner,
his unrivalled acquaintance with human nature, and
his delicacy of tact, enabled him to regulate his con-
duct and his demeanor according to the circumstances
of his political or religious environment. Conscious
of his commanding genius, his insatiable ambition was
not content with the enjoyment of the traditional
honors and material advantages of Papal sovereignty ;
it aimed at the establishment of an autocracy, free
from the interference of earthly potentates, nominally
subject to celestial power alone, but, in fact, absolutely
irresponsible and despotic.
Such was the formidable antagonist who, at the
close of the twelfth century, confronted the majesty
of the German Empire, represented by an infant less
than four years of age. The minority of that infant,
afterwards Frederick II., was one of degrading de-
pendence and constant humiliation. His mother was
compelled to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Pope
in order to retain even nominal authority in her own
hereditary dominions. Her death left her child the
ward of the Holy See, in addition to being its vassal,
and, in consequence, the entire ecclesiastical polity of
his kingdom was changed; the clergy were declared
independent of the secular power; grants of real
property, confiscated by preceding emperors and
32 History of the
confirmed by long prescription, were revoked, and
the lands restored to the Church ; quarrels among the
turbulent nobles were industriously fomented, to
afford a pretext for Papal interference and an ex-
tension of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, for the nominal
purpose of reconciling enmities and preserving order ;
the Jews and Moslems, left without a protector and
subjected to horrible persecution, were driven to the
desperate alternative of exile or brigandage. As a
result of these impolitic measures, Sicily became op-
pressed by anarchy far more deplorable and vexatious
than that produced by the crimes and follies of Sara-
cen misgovernment. Its population diminished; its
prosperity declined ; its commerce almost disappeared.
With the returning ascendency of the priesthood, the
evils inseparable from that condition ignorance, in-
tolerance, private corruption, organized hypocrisy
once more became predominant. The irruption of a
horde of greedy and insatiable ecclesiastics into the
rich Sicilian benefices brought with it all the abuses
of Papal Italy. Simony was openly practised. Some
priests lent money at ruinous rates of interest; some
kept taverns; others derived enormous incomes from
even more questionable places of public entertainment.
The impurity of their lives and the blasphemies in
which they often indulged soon caused them to for-
feit the respect of their parishioners, as had long been
the case at Rome. They were so careless of the out-
ward observances and duties enjoined by their profes-
sion as to neglect the service of the altar until their
conduct became a scandal. It was a matter of com-
mon complaint that the sacred vestments were ragged
and filthy; the chalices unpolished; the sacramental
wine sour; the Host, the visible symbol of God, un-
protected from insects and covered with dust. The
habits of the clergy were incredibly vile. The more
exalted the rank and the more conspicuous the prelate,
MooEiSH Empire in Europe 33
the greater was the example of pecuniary corruption
and social depravity. The revenues of the Church,
extorted from a reluctant and impoverished people,
were squandered in the purchase of fine equipages, in
sumptuous banquets, and upon rapacious courtesans.
The duties of religion were forgotten in the general
scramble for power. The palace of Palermo was the
rallying point of these ecclesiastical politicians, whose
broils and intrigues, so inconsistent with their calling,
frequently disturbed the peace of the city, and whose
vices were the reproach of a population which had
never been able to boast of a high standard of personal
morality.
The imperious spirit of Frederick, unwilling to
brook interference in the affairs of his kingdom even
from his feudal superior, first disclosed itself when
he was but fourteen years old in a dispute with the
clergy of Palermo, who appealed from his decision to
the Pope. His defiance of the Pontiff was subse-
quently of such frequent occurrence as to be regarded
as one of the leading principles of his administration.
Innocent seems to have viewed with almost paternal
indulgence the disobedience of a youth of excellent
parts and undaunted resolution, who was subject to
his authoritj^ not only as a mem.ber of the Christian
communion, but in the double capacity of ward and
vassal. His inability to appreciate the true character
of Frederick was never so apparent as when he com-
mitted the fatal error which raised that prince to the
greatest throne in Christendom. The paltry conces-
sions extorted as the price of this great dignity were
an indifferent compensation for the series of mis-
fortunes its bestowal entailed upon Europe, the ran-
corous hostility of faction; the perpetuation of in-
testine conflict, with its inseparable evils, widespread
anarchy, the destruction of cities, the waste of prov-
inces, the massacre of non-combatants, the obstruction
Vol. III. 3
34 History of the
of national progress; and the partial return to the
barbarous conditions of former ages induced by the
relentless strife of Guelf and Ghibelline. It is not the
object of this work to minutely set forth the events
of that mighty struggle. The relations of the Holy
See and the Empire are only important as they may
have affected indirectly the influence of the reforms
instituted by the great Emperor; reforms whose
foundation had been laid by two preceding dynasties
of widely different character, and whose principles de-
rived their origin from the colonization of Sicily by a
nation utterly foreign to the laws and traditions of
contemporaneous Europe.
Born under a southern sky, accustomed from child-
hood to daily intercourse with the most intellectual
society of the age, Frederick II. retained to the last
a decided predilection for Sicily, the land of his birth.
The classic memories and romantic history of that
famous island exerted over his active mind a most
potent and lasting influence. He had no sympathy
with, and less inclination for, the rude and barbarous
customs, the coarse festivities, the ferocity, drunken-
ness, and bestiality of that country which was the
original seat of his royal House, the realm whence
he derived the proudest and most grandiloquent of
his numerous titles. Educated by two Moorish pre-
ceptors, under the superintendence of a cardinal, a
curious circumstance which indicates that infidel learn-
ing had not yet entirely succumbed to ecclesiastical
prejudice, he in time became proficient in all the arts
and accomplishments possessed by that remarkable
people whose erudition and industry were admired
and feared by the dominant race whose members the
fortune of arms had made the depositaries of power
and the interpreters of orthodoxy. This early, inti-
mate, and constant association with Mohammedans
and Greeks, in each of whose systems of government
Moorish Empire in Europe 35
the temporal and spiritual functions were vested in
one individual, undoubtedly suggested to the mind of
the Emperor the stupendous project of merging the
Papal office in the imperial dignity, a combination of
two despotisrns under a single head, whose powers, of
uncertain and indefinable extent, could not be ques-
tioned without incurring the penalties of both treason
and sacrilege, and whose jurisdiction would eventually
embrace the habitable world. The political and ju-
dicial systems instituted and perfected by Frederick
II., remarkable in themselves, become almost marvel-
lous when considered in relation to the era of their
establishment, the difficulties encountered in their
application, and the antagonism of the privileged
classes whose designs they interfered with and whose
abuses they were intended to correct and restrain.
Two questions of paramount importance engaged
the attention of this enlightened prince, questions
containing in themselves the solution of every admin-
istrative and every social problem, the promulga-
tion of law and implicit obedience to its mandates, and
the adoption of measures which might secure the
greatest attainable happiness of the people. To the
accomplishment of these noble and praiseworthy ends
the talents and energy of the great ruler were con-
stantly devoted, in hours of triumph and in hours of
humiliation ; when engrossed with the cares of a vast
and seditious empire; in the deserts of Syria; in the
very face of death ; in the bitterness of spirit induced
by shattered dreams of long-nourished ambition.
The evils incident to a protracted minority had
manifested themselves with more than ordinary promi-
nence in the Kingdom of Sicily. The supervision of
the Pope had, as usual, been uniformly exercised for
the benefit of the ecclesiastical order and the aggran-
dizement of the Holy See. A fierce and rapacious
aristocracy, impatient of restraint and eager for inno-
36 History of the
vation, defied the laws, and wreaked their hereditary
vengeance upon each other with every circumstance of
merciless atrocity. The mass of the population, prob-
ably composed of more diversified elements and na-
tionalities than any community of equal numbers in
the world, unable to prosper and scarcely able to live,
endeavored to obtain, by different methods, exemption
from the intolerable persecution of their enemies.
The Greek, with the craft of his race, attached him-
self to the faction which, for the time being, enjoyed
the best prospect of success. The Jew purchased a
temporary immunity by the voluntary surrender of
the greater part of his possessions. Alone among his
companions, the Saracen took up arms. His martial
spirit and the numbers of his countrymen obtained
from his turbulent and disorganized adversaries a tacit
recognition of independence, which the rugged nature
of the country that contained his strongholds did not
a little to confirm. In the effort to re-establish the
royal authority, the Saracens rendered invaluable as-
sistance ; they were among the first to assemble around
the imperial standard; without their co-operation the
result would have been uncertain ; and their valor and
fidelity preserved the empire of Frederick, as that of
their fathers had consolidated the power of the Nor-
man domination.
The jurisprudence of the Emperor was based upon
and included the system established by the Normans.
Its rules were modified and improved as experience
had suggested would be expedient and profitable. The
main objects of the laws were the extinction of feudal
tyranny, and the enjoyment of private liberty so far
as it was not inconsistent with the prerogatives of the
crown. No monarch of ancient or modern times was
more solicitous for the happiness of his subjects, and
none ever more fully appreciated the fact that the test
of a nation's greatness is the benefit derived by man-
Moorish Empire in Europe 87
kind from its works, its history, its example. The
difficulties encountered in the formation of a uniform
code which could be enforced in such a cosmopolitan
society as that of Sicily seemed insuperable. Feudal
rights and ecclesiastical exemptions ; the privileges of
the Jews and Saracens, founded on prescription and
confirmed by tribute; the jealous contentions of many
forms of religious belief; the perpetual encroach-
ments and usurpations of pontifical authority; the
skepticism of Moslem philosophers, and the fanatical
rage of persecuting zealots, all of these antagonistic
rights, claims, prejudices, and prerogatives it was
necessary to correct, rearrange, amend, and embody
in one practical, efficient, and harmonious system.
The task, though stupendous, was not beyond the
abilities and constructive genius of the great law-
giver. The turbulence of the nobles was firmly re-
strained. All members of the clerical order were
rendered amenable to the laws of the realm in cases
which concerned the dignity and traditions of the em-
pire. In matters relating to marriage alone they were
permitted to exercise jurisdiction over those who had
not taken the tonsure ; the assent of the Emperor was
necessary to the validity of an election ; the prelate as
well as the layman was compelled to assist in defray-
ing the expenses of the government ; nor, in any way,
could he escape the discharge of duties enjoined by the
Imperial Code or plead immunity from burdens neces-
sary to the security of the state or the enforcement of
order. The law of mortmain, framed under the direc-
tion of the Emperor, preceded the famous statute of
Edward I., of which it was the prototype, nearly a
century. Upon every individual the maxim was con-
tinually impressed that the sovereign was the fountain
of justice, authority, and mercy. The criminal pro-
cedure, founded on Norman precedents, was singu-
larly free from the legal atrocities generally prescribed
38 History of the
by feudal regulations ; the penalty of death was only
inflicted for the most heinous offences ; mutilation was
seldom permitted except in the cases of incorrigible
criminals; torture, while recognized, was one of the
rarest of punishments. The courts were invested with
every outward circumstance of official pomp and dig-
nity. From the decision of the supreme tribunal there
was no appeal; even in the monarch vexatious litiga-
tion was systematically discouraged; judicial bribery
was considered a crime of peculiar infamy; and the
practice of holding the magistrate responsible for the
maintenance of peace in his district was a most efficient
check upon the violence and depredations of profes-
sional malefactors.
In the statutes relating to the detection and punish-
ment of heresy, the character of Frederick appears to
singular and manifest disadvantage. His long wars
with the Pope, his close intimacy with infidels, his op-
pression of ecclesiastics, the repeated acts of sacrilege
of which he was guilty, the blasphemous speeches con-
stantly upon his tongue, the profane and mysterious
studies in which he delighted, his employment of and
confidence in wizards and astrologers, demonstrate
beyond contradiction the weakness of his faith or the
profoundness of his hypocrisy. But the latitude of
opinion and conduct which he allowed himself was in
an inverse ratio to that which he vouchsafed to others.
No familiar of the Inquisition ever pursued heretics
with greater zeal or pertinacity than the famous mon-
arch whose name is constantly associated with all that
is liberal, enlightened, and profitable in the annals of
human progress, an inconsistency all the more glaring
in a prince whose favorite sentiment was, " The glory
of a ruler is the safe and comfortable condition of the
subject." History has never been able to advance a
satisfactory or even a plausible explanation of this
anomaly; its cause, at this distance of time, must re-
Moorish Empire in Europe 39
main forever unknown, and may be ascribed, for want
of a better solution, to the innate perversity of the
human mind, which often by a single glaring defect
obscures the brilliant lustre of a character eminently
conspicuous for every princely quality, for every gen-
erous impulse, and for every literary and artistic
excellence.
His commercial regulations were among the princi-
pal sources of Frederick's power and greatness. His
genius perceived at a glance the vast advantages which
must result from an interchange of commodities Avith
maritime nations ; and, in the application of this prin-
ciple, every facility was afforded those bold spirits
whose energy the expectation of gain or the love of
adventure directed into the channels of trade. Treaties
more liberal in their provisions and more profitable in
their effects than any which had heretofore been
adopted by the powers of the Mediterranean were con-
cluded with the greatest mercantile communities of
Europe, Constantinople, Venice, Genoa, as well as
with Damascus and Alexandria and the Moorish
principalities of Africa and Spain.
The intimacy maintained by Frederick with Mo-
hammedan sovereigns contributed greatly to the pros-
perity of his dominions. The Sultan of Egypt was
his friend. The Emir of Tunis was his tributary.
With the other Moslem princes he was on the best
of terms. Treaties of commerce, framed for mu-
tual advantage, were frequently negotiated with these
potentates, who were only too willing to discriminate
against other European monarchs in favor of the
Emperor of Germany. In 1241, on the arrival of the
Imperial ambassadors, Cairo was illuminated in their
honor. The trade of Sicily extended to India. The
luxuries of the Orient were brought to the ports of
Palermo and Messina. In their markets the arms, the
jewels, the stuffs, the porcelain, of countries remote
40 History of the
from civilization found a ready sale. In return, im-
mense quantities of grain and manufactured articles
were exported. It has been established upon un-
doubted authority that white female slaves of Chris-
tian birth formed no inconsiderable portion of the
commodities dealt in by the subjects of Frederick II.
The fortunate geographical situation of Sicily, her
magnificent harbors, the productiveness of her soil, the
excellence and variety of her manufactures, had, in
all ages, been factors of paramount importance in her
commercial development. That development was now
materially aided by the reciprocal observance of hu-
mane and courteous regulations, hitherto unrecognized
in the intercourse of nations during the Middle Ages.
Merchants in foreign ports were received with lavish
hospitality; distrust of strangers gradually subsided;
and unfortunates, cast away at sea, were no longer
compelled to endure both the violence of the elements
and the heartless rapacity of ferocious outlaws or
amateur freebooters. In the widely distributed com-
merce of the monarchy the crown enjoyed no insig-
nificant share. The ships of Frederick were anchored
in every harbor; his warehouses were filled with the
choicest and most costly fabrics of every country ; and
his agents, conspicuous for their enterprise and daring,
collected, in the distant and almost unknown regions
of the Orient, articles whose sale would most contribute
to the benefit of the royal treasury. The principles of
free trade seem to have been first promulgated in the
maritime code of Sicily. The Emperor, however, in
the application of those principles, evinced no reluc-
tance in discriminating against his own subjects, whose
vessels were not permitted to clear for foreign ports
until those of the crown had been a certain time at sea.
Every branch of commerce paid tribute to the im-
perial merchant. His ships carried pilgrims to the
Holy Land. The grain he annually sent to Africa
Moorish Empire in Europe 41
returned an enormous and certain profit. His trade
with India brought into European markets objects of
unfamiHar uses and elaborate workmanship, whose
rarity often increased their great intrinsic value. His
friendly relations with Mohammedan princes, begun
during the Crusade and terminated only by his death,
made him frequently the recipient of magnificent
presents. We read that on one occasion an eastern
potentate sent him a dozen camels laden with silver
and gold. All ships trading to Palestine were required
to bring back a cross-bow for each of their cables, a
measure which, while it replenished the royal arsenals
with the most effective weapons of the age, was
free from the dangers of official incapacity or cor-
ruption, and entailed no expense on the government.
A great fleet of galleys, commanded by the Genoese
admiral Spinola, maintained the naval power of the
kingdom and protected the coasts from the depreda-
tions of pirates.
In the internal administration of the kingdom, the
most progressive and equitable ideas of commercial
honor and common advantage prevailed. No duty
could be levied on articles of necessity transported
from one province to another. While monopolies were
not forbidden, they were restricted to the crown, and
the oppression resulting from this measure in other
countries was not felt by the subjects of Frederick.
Annual fairs were held in all the principal cities;
markets existed everywhere. Taxes were apportioned
according to the wealth of the district where they were
to be collected. Constant war made these impositions
onerous at times, but there was some relief in the
knowledge that the clergy were forced to contribute
their share to the public burdens, an inconvenience
from which they were elsewhere exempt. The coinage
was one of the purest, the most convenient, the most
beautifully executed that had ever been put in circu-
42 History of the
lation by any government. Agriculture, still largely
in the hands of the Arabs, was carried to the highest
perfection. Every plant or tree, whose culture was
known to be profitable and which could adapt itself
to a soil of phenomenal fertility, was to be found in
the gardens and plantations of Sicily. The regula-
tions of the kingdom concerning the rural economy of
its people were minute and specific, even paternal, in
their character. They were especially exact in details
when directing how the royal demesnes should be ad-
ministered. Records were kept of the crops produced
in each district. Inventories of all the stock, poultry,
grain, and fruit were made each year ; the methods of
their disposition and the prices they brought were
noted on the public registers. The very uses to which
even the feathers of the domestic fowls were destined
was a matter of official inquiry. The breeds of horses,
asses, and cattle were improved ; the greatest care was
taken of these animals. Food, which after experiment
was found to be the most nutritious, was adopted ; and
the Emperor, whose interest in these matters was stim-
ulated by the profit he derived from his stables, per-
sonally scrutinized their management with the most
assiduous care. The supervision exercised by govern-
ment officials over all occupations was most precise,
and must have often proved vexatious. Weights and
measures were prescribed by law, and any departure
from honest dealing in this respect was visited with
the severest penalties. Officers were appointed in
every town for the detection of false weights and
the sale of spurious merchandise. The laws of hy-
giene were understood and enforced with a degree of
intelligence unknown to many European communities
even at the present day. Unwholesome provisions
could not be exposed for sale in the markets. Trades
offensive to the senses or injurious to public health
were prohibited within the walls of cities. A depth
Moorish Empire in Europe 43
was prescribed for graves, that the exhalations pro-
ceeding from them might not contaminate the air. No
carrion was permitted to be left on the highways.
In questions of legislation, as well as in those re-
lating to political economy, the kingdom of Sicily
was far in advance of its contemporaries. The con-
stitution of England, and especially the organization
of the House of Commons, owe much to the Sicilian
Parliament. While the duties of its members were
ordinarily confined to the registering of royal edicts
and the imposition of taxes, it presents the first ex-
ample of a truly elective, representative assembly that
is mentioned in history. From the institutions of
Frederick, his relative, Alfonso X. of Castile, appro-
priated many of the legislative and judicial provisions
of Las Siete Partidas, a compilation for which that
monarch is principally entitled for his fame. France
and Germany also ultimately experienced the imper-
ceptible but potent impulse communicated to society
by the supremacy of law over theology, which had its
beginning in Sicily during the thirteenth century.
Extensive and important as were the reforms of
Frederick, it was from the munificent and discerning
patronage extended to science and literature that is
derived his most enduring claim to the gratitude and
commendation of posterity. The impressions im-
parted by Moslem taste, in the prosecution of early
studies, during the formation of his character, never
lost their power. His court was frequented by the
most accomplished Jews and Arabs of the age. They
were the favorite instructors of youth. Their opin-
ions, drawn from the sources of classic and Oriental
learning, were heard with respect and awe, even by
those who dissented from their creeds and deprecated
their influence. They filled the most responsible and
lucrative offices of the government. Admitted to
friendly and confidential audiences with the sover-
44 History of the
eign, who, himself an excellent mathematician, de-
lighted to pose them with abstruse problems in
geometry and algebra, their philosophy was regarded
with signal disfavor by distinguished prelates that
daily, in halls and antechambers, impatiently awaited
the pleasure of the Emperor. So fond was Frederick
of these intellectual diversions, that he sent certain
questions for solution to the Mohammedan countries
of Africa and the East; but no one was found com-
petent to answer them until they reached the court of
one of the princes of Moorish Spain. One of the most
accomplished of linguists, Frederick sedulously en-
couraged the study of languages throughout his do-
minions. Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek were under-
stood and spoken by all who made any pretensions
to thorough education. Naples and Salerno were the
most famous seats of learning in that epoch, at the
former was the University established by the Em-
peror; the Medical College of Salerno is justly cele-
brated as one of the most extraordinary academical
institutions that has ever existed. The Faculty of
the Universitj^ was composed of the most eminent
scholars who could be attracted by ample salaries, the
prospect of literary distinction, and the certain favor
of an enlightened monarch. The resources of all
countries were diligently laid under contribution to
insure the success of this noble foundation. The
popularity of Frederick with the Moslem princes of
the East gave him exceptional facilities for the ac-
quirement of literary treasures. The collections of
Egypt and Syria and of the monasteries of Europe
were ransacked for rare and curious volumes with
which to furnish the library of the great Neapolitan
college. No city was better adapted to the necessities
of a large scholastic institution than Naples. Its situ-
ation in the centre of the Mediterranean, the salu-
brity of the climate, the cheapness and variety of its
Moorish Empire in Europe 45
markets, offered unusual inducements to poor and
ambitious students desirous of an education. Their
interests were protected and their security assured by-
special and rigorous laws. Extraordinary precautions
were taken to prevent their being molested during
their journeys to and fro. The prices which might
be charged for lodging were clearly and definitely
established. Provision was made for loans, at a
nominal interest, to such scholars as did not have the
funds requisite to successfully prosecute their studies.
The preparatory schools of the kingdom were con-
ducted with equal care and prudence, and nowhere
else in the world, in that age, could educational ad-
vantages of a similar character be enjoyed as in the
Sicilian dominions of the Emperor.
Great as it was, the reputation of the University
of Naples has been eclipsed by the superior renown
of the Medical College of Salerno. There the study
of surgery and medicine was pursued under the eyes
of the most learned and distinguished practitioners
of every nation familiar with the healing art. Igno-
rance of any language could scarcely be an impedi-
ment to the student, for instruction was given in
Latin, Greek, German, Hebrew, Arabic. Scientific
methods were invariably observed in its curriculum.
The prevalent superstitions, which, encouraged by the
clergy, appealed to the credulous fears of the vulgar,
were contemjituously banished from its halls. While
the School of Salerno had existed since the eighth
century, and, from its origin, chiefly owed its fame
and success to Arabic and Jewish influence, it attained
its greatest prosperity under the fostering care of
Frederick II. The writers principally relied on by
its professors were Hippocrates and Galen, whose
works had been preserved from barbarian destruction
or oblivion by the Saracens of Egypt and Spain. But
while these venerable authorities were always quoted
46 History of the
with reverence, no obstinate adherence to tradition, no
devotion to errors consecrated by the usages of cen-
turies, characterized the College of Salerno. Its
spirit was eminently progressive, inquisitive, liberal.
The monk, the rabbi, the imam, the atheist, were num-
bered among its teachers, and each maintained a posi-
tion among his fellows in a direct ratio to his intellec-
tual attainments. This anomalous condition, the more
conspicuous in an era of general ignorance, and flour-
ishing under the very shadow of the Papacy, itself
inimical to all pursuits which tended to mental prog-
ress and interference with its spiritual emoluments,
rendered the existence of such an institution all the
more remarkable. To its researches are to be attrib-
uted many maxims, theories, and methods of practice
still recognized as correct by modern physicians. Its
investigations were thoroughly philosophical and
based largely upon experiment. Information was
communicated by lectures; anatomical demonstra-
tions, as in modern times, were considered among the
most useful and valuable means of instruction. Medi-
eeval prejudice still opposed the mutilation of the
human form, which, with the sectarian prohibition
of ceremonial uncleanness, had long before been over-
come by the Moorish surgeons of Cordova; and, in
the Salernitan clinic, anatomists were forced to be
apparently content with the dissection of hogs and
monkeys. In secret, however, human bodies were not
infrequently delivered to the scalpel, and the offices of
many internal organs were observed and determined
by the aid of vivisection, a practice indispensable to
a proper understanding of surgery, yet reprobated,
even in our age of scientific inquiry, by a class of
noisy, but well-meaning, fanatics. The unsatisfac-
tory memorials of the School of Salerno which have
descended to us some of doubtful authenticity,
others of unknown derivation nevertheless disclose
Moorish Empire in Europe 47
the extraordinary discoveries its professors had made
in anatomy; among them those of the functions of
the chyle ducts, of the lymphatic system, of the capil-
laries, which then received their name ; of the different
coats and humors of the eye; of the phenomena of
digestion, together with detailed descriptions of the
office of the ovaries and their tubes, which anticipated
the researches of Falloppio by more than four hundred
years. Specialists then, as now, devoted their talents
to the improvement and perfection of certain branches
of medical science. There were many celebrated ocu-
lists and lithotomists, and practitioners who were
highly successful in the treatment of hernia, of me-
chanical injuries of every kind, and of the diseases of
women. The rules of hygiene, the properties of the
various substances of the Materia Medica, the prin-
ciples of pathology and therapeutics, as laid down by
the faculty of Salerno, have been transmitted to us
in a lengthy and curious poem entitled, " Flos Medi-
cinse Scholse Salerni," popularly known as Regimen
Sanitatis.
This extraordinary production, none of which is
probably later than the twelfth century, and whose
origin is unknown, has been ascribed by Sprengel to
Isaac ben Solomon, a famous Jewish practitioner of
Cordova, who died in 950. Careful examination, how-
ever, discloses the fact that it is not the work of a
single hand, but a compilation of various medical pre-
cepts and opinions belonging to different epochs. In
its prologue, the pre-eminent value of temperance in
all things is diligently inculcated :
" Si vis incolumem, si vis te vivere sanum :
Curas linque graves^ irasci crede profanum.
Parce mero, coenato parum; non sit tibi vanum
Surgere post epulas; somnum fuge meridianum.
Si tibi deficiant Medici, medici tibi fiant
Haec tria; mens laeta, requies, moderata diaeta."
48 History of the
It also contains hints on diagnosis and prognosis; in-
formation indicating no small degree of anatomical
and physiological knowledge ; formulas for antidotes
of poisons; advice for the care of the body during
every month in the year; and astrological indications
of the favorable or malign influence of the signs of
the zodiac and the stars. From the following couplet,
designating the Seven Ages of Man,
" Infans, inde puer, adolescens^ juvenis, vir,
Dicitur inde senex, postea decrepitus,"
seems to have been derived the inspiration of the
familiar lines of Shakspeare.
The vitiated taste of an age not yet fully acquainted
with the properties of correct literary composition
caused the incorporation of verses into many of its
most serious and dignified productions. These di-
dactic poems seem singularly out of place in a medi-
cal treatise, and especially so where, as is usually the
case, the poetry is, in both matter and harmony of
numbers, below mediocrity.
Apothecaries and chemists, of whom a competent
knowledge of drugs was required, were subject to the
corps of physicians who were forbidden to join in
their enterprises or share their profits; they were
sworn to obey the Code; the number of pharmacies
was limited; and they were liable to the visitation of
imperial inspectors responsible for the purity of their
merchandise and the observance of the law. The pre-
cautions required in the sale of poisons ; the directions
for compounding electuaries and sj^nips; the most
approved methods for the preparation of the love-
potions believed to be so efficacious by mediaeval cre-
dulity; the fabrication of charms for the prevention
of disease, are all set forth in the Salernitan Code with
minute and tedious exactness.
Moorish Empire in Europe 49
In the city were many hospitals, the oldest of which
was established in the ninth century, and was con-
temporaneous with similar institutions founded by the
Ommeyade dynasty of Cordova. Some of them were
richly endowed, others were entirely supported by
charitable donations. The strict requirements of
medical police were recognized in the isolation of
patients suffering from contagious diseases. A sys-
tematic distinction was observed in the purposes of
these beneficent foundations; they were of various
classes and devoted to the care of the poor and the
homeless, to the protection of invalid females of rank
and fortune, to the support of foundlings; and the
most intelligent treatment of every malady was
gratuitously afforded. The members of monastic
orders, for the most part, had charge of the hospitals,
and acted in the capacity of nurses and attendants.
The regulations of Frederick, who united the vari-
ous schools of Salerno into one vast institution of
medical learning, exacted the possession of the high-
est abilities, dexterity, and experience by the expectant
practitioner. A preparatory course of three years in
the general branches of literature and philosophy was
required of him. Five years at least were to be de-
voted to study in the colleges, and one year was then
to be passed under the eye of an experienced physician
before the aspirant for professional distinction was
pronounced competent to prescribe for the suffering.
The remarkable attainments and skill of Roger of
Parma, the great surgeon, who was famous for the
treatment of wounds and fractures and the extirpa-
tion of tumors and polypi; of Maurus, Gaulterius,
and Matthew Silvaticus, who published treatises on
phlebotomy, general practice, and the Materia
Medica; of Garipontus, an expert in operations
for calculus and other diseases of the pelvic organs;
of Giovanni da Procida, the accomplished court
Vol. hi.-
50 History of the
physician of Frederick II., all graduates of the
School of Salerno, are conspicuous in the annals of
mediaeval surgery and medicine. Then first appeared
the patronymic of Farragut afterwards destined to
such renown in the naval history of the New World
borne by a Jew of INIessina, who was educated at
Salerno and Montpellier, and whose translation of the
" Continent" of Rhazes, made in the latter part of the
thirteenth century, was dedicated to Charles of Anjou,
brother of Louis IX., King of France.
Students of both sexes were permitted to enjoy the
rare advantages aflPorded by the School of Salerno;
no prejudice hampered the acquisition by woman of
medical knowledge, in whose application her natural
acuteness and sympathy rendered her remarkably pro-
ficient and successful. Many female physicians rose
to great eminence in the different departments of their
profession as lecturers, chemists, operators: among
them the names of Rebecca, who wrote on fevers and
the embryo ; Abella, on generation and prenatal life ;
Trotula, on the Materia Medica, hernia, and obstet-
rics; Mercuriade, on general surgery; and Costanza
Colenda, whose scientific accomplishments, as well as
her beauty, made her famous in Europe, have de-
scended to our time. A college of midwifery existed
at Salerno, whose graduates were subjected to exami-
nations fully as strict as those required of candidates
for medical honors, and who, sworn to fidelity, en-
joyed a lucrative practice in the opulent families of
Naples and Messina. Although a lofty sense of pro-
fessional etiquette distinguished the faculty of Sa-
lerno, imperial supervision, which, under Frederick,
found nothing too minute for its attention, carefully
protected the public from extortion. Fees were fixed
by law; their amounts were regulated by circum-
stances. Even the ordinary number of visits required
in a given time was defined; and attendance was
Moorish Empire in Europe 51
accorded without charge to the poor. In our age,
so prohfic of professional incompetence, the exalted
rank and profound attainments of the graduates of
the Salernitan school may well excite astonishment;
amidst the darkness of mediaeval ignorance it was the
educational and literary phenomenon of Europe.
A generous patron of every art and occupation
which could embellish his domains, benefit his subjects,
or enrich his treasury, the Emperor gave also much
attention to great public works, the fortification of
cities, the improvement of harbors, the construction
of highways. His palaces disclosed a marked parti-
ality for Moorish customs and Moorish architecture.
Some of these beautiful edifices had come down from
the Saracen domination, but many were constructed
after the plans of the royal architect, who personally
superintended their erection. They were finished with
costly marbles and adorned with bas-reliefs, statues,
and paintings. The eagles of Germany were sculp-
tured over their portals. Outworks of vast extent
defended their approaches. In all were courts and
gardens odorous with the blossoms of jasmine and
orange and surrounded by secluded apartments des-
tined for the occupants of the imperial seraglio. At-
tached to some of these delightful retreats were exten-
sive menageries, aviaries, and miniature lakes filled
with gold and silver fish. There was no appliance of
Oriental luxury, no means which could contribute to
the gratification of the senses, that was not to be found
in the Sicilian palaces of Frederick II. In the foun-
dation of new cities, extensive districts were depopu-
lated to provide them with inhabitants. This arbitrary
proceeding was often a measure of profound policy,
which insured the good behavior of a turbulent popu-
lation that, removed from the influence of former
associations, transplanted among strangers, and re-
garded by their new neighbors with suspicion and hos-
52 History of the
tility, were rendered incapable of serious mischief. In
this manner was established the Saracen colony of
Lucera, whose members, composed of rebellious Mus-
sulmans of Sicily, became, soon after their settlement,
the most faithful subjects of Frederick and the chief
support of the imperial throne.
That city was built on the slope of the Apennines,
in a location most advantageous for both the purposes
of commerce and defence. Its citadel was a mile in
circuit and protected by fortifications of enormous
strength. In the centre stood a lofty tower, at once
the palace and the treasury of the Emperor. Fred-
erick neglected no opportunity of gratifying the pride
and confirming the attachment of his Saracen sub-
jects. The spoils of the Papal states were lavished
upon them. The trade of the colony was encouraged
by every available means. Armorers and workers in
the precious metals were imported from Syria. From
Egypt came laborers highly skilled in horticulture.
Great orchards were planted in the environs. The
soldiers of the imperial body-guard were Moslems of
Lucera. Splendidly uniformed and mounted, they
were constantly on duty at the palace, on the march,
in the camp. Conspicuous in the funeral escort of the
deceased monarch, their duties were only relinquished
at the grave.
The maintenance of this infidel stronghold in the
heart of Christian Europe was a standing reproach to
the Papacy ; and the horror of the clergy was aggra-
vated by the knowledge that churches had been de-
molished to supply it with building materials; that
the revenues of rich and populous districts were di-
verted through its agency from the coffers of the
cathedral and the monastery; that it enjoyed exclu-
sive and valuable commercial privileges; and that,
worst of all, it was able at a moment's notice to furnish
more than twenty thousand well-equipped, valiant,
Moorish Empire in Europe 53
and incorruptible soldiers to the armies of the Em-
peror.
The patronage of letters, which distinguished this
accomplished sovereign, is not the least of his titles to
renown. No prince ever sought out books and manu-
scripts with greater assiduity, or more strenuously
endeavored, bj^ the bestowal of scholastic honors and
pecuniary emoluments, to attract the learned to his
court. Nationality, creed, partisanship, feudal en-
mity, private grudges, were alike forgotten in the
friendly contest for literary pre-eminence. In the
royal antechambers, in the halls of the University, no
student was entitled to precedence, save only through
his established claim to mental superiority. The in-
cessant rivalry of many acute and highly cultivated
intellects, stimulated by rewards and unhampered by
restrictions, was productive of results most important
for the revival of letters and the future benefit of
humanity. Great advances were made in all depart-
ments of knowledge, chemistry, natural history,
botany, poetry, mathematics. The famous scholar,
Michael Scott, whose rare attainments contemporane-
ous ignorance attributed to magic, and whose simple
tomb in IMelrose Abbey awakens to-day the veneration
of every educated and appreciative traveller, was em-
ployed by the Emperor as a translator of the classics,
and carried to Palermo vast stores of learning ac-
quired in the schools of the Spanish Moslems. Theo-
dore, called " The Philosopher," published treatises on
geometry and astrology; John of Palermo wrote on
arithmetical problems; Leonardo Fibonacci brought
to the general notice of Europe the science of algebra
as known and used in modern schools; the versatile
Pietro de Vinea, statesman, jurist, orator, amused his
leisure in the composition of the first Italian lyric
poetry, and of epistolary correspondence unsurpassed,
in any age, for perspicuity, ease, and elegance of
54> History of the
diction. Frederick himself wrote amorous sonnets,
and published in Latin a work on hawking and birds
of prey, which is even now an authority on the sub-
ject. The apocryphal book, De Tribus Impostoribus,
an alleged compendium of blasphemy and vileness,
attributed to him by the clergy of the INIiddle Ages,
is now known to have been an invention of ecclesiasti-
cal malice to blacken a character only too vulnerable
to such attacks. At the Sicilian court was formed that
melodious and graceful idiom afterwards employed
with such success by Petrarch, Dante, and Boccaccio.
The political, social, and literary revolutions of seven
centuries have not materially altered the grammatical
construction or orthography of the beautiful language
spoken and sung by the knights and ladies of Pa-
lermo. The enduring fame of such an achievement
far exceeds in value and utility the temporary and
barren distinctions obtained by the gaining of battles,
the sack of cities, the plunder of baronial strongholds,
and the humiliation of popes.
Such was the Emperor Frederick II., and such the
civilization which, inspired by Moslem precept, tradi-
tion, and example, his commanding genius established
in Southern Europe. Not only was he the most intel-
ligent, but he was the most powerful and illustrious
sovereign of his age. In addition to the imperial dig-
nity, he possessed the titles of King of Naples and
Sicily, of Lombardy, of Poland, of Bohemia, of Hun-
gary, of Denmark, of Sardinia, of Aries, and of
Jerusalem. In birth and affinity he was first among
the great potentates of the earth. He was the grand-
son of the famous Barbarossa and of King Roger of
Sicily. He was the uncle of Jaime I. of Aragon, Lo
Conquerador. He was the father-in-law of the Greek
Emperor of Nicea. He was the son-in-law of the
Latin Emperor of Constantinople. He was the
brother-in-law of the King of England. His rela-
Moorish Empire in Europe 55
tions with the Sultan of 'Kgypt, dictated, in a meas-
ure, by state pohcy, but for the most part prompted
by personal admiration, were of the most social and
friendly character. He exchanged gifts with the
chief of the execrated Ismailian sect known as the
" Old Man of the IMountain." Community of ideas,
tastes, languages, and mercantile interests, which he
shared with Mohammedan rulers, confirmed the inti-
macy already long existing between the Kingdom of
Sicily and the fragments of the Hispano-Arab em-
pire. His authority was respected from the Mediter-
ranean to the Baltic; his matrimonial connections
made his influence felt from the banks of the Nile to
the Pillars of Hercules. It was this power, exercised
over a territory of vast extent and unlimited resources,
added to a consciousness of pre-eminent ability, that
suggested to Frederick a renewal of the ancient Car-
lo vingian jurisdiction, and the daring but imprudent
attempt, by usurping the prerogatives of the Papacy,
to realize a dream of more than imperial ambition.
That dream contemplated the foundation of a na-
tional, schismatical church, of which he was to be the
head and Pietro de Vinea the vicar. The Pope was
to be restricted to the exercise of spiritual functions,
and finally deposed. In the Emperor were to be
centred all the glory, the majesty, the sanctity, of an
omnipotent ruler, presumably responsible only to the
Almighty; really the sole arbiter of the religious
professions and the actions of mankind. How the
demands of such a system, which must necessarily
be maintained, to a certain extent, by intellectual
coercion, could be reconciled with the broad and
equitable tolerance which was for the most part the
distinguishing characteristic of the policy of Fred-
erick, does not appear. The claim was, as has already
been mentioned, that ecclesiastical supremacy was
vested in the secular power of the empire, and dated
56 History of the
from the time of the Roman emperors. They were
the Supreme Pontiffs from whom the Pope derived
his title, but not his authority. That office was merged
into, and was inferior to, the imperial dignity. Its
inheritance by the monarch of Italy rested upon a
more secure basis than the ambiguous and disputed
commission alleged to have been conferred upon the
fisherman of Galilee. Its validity had been strength-
ened by centuries of prescription. It had been exer-
cised by many generations of sovereigns. The minis-
trations of the chief priest of a sect embracing millions
of worshippers, the revered intermediary between the
devotee and Heaven, are only too easily confounded
with the attributes of divinity. These advantages
were early recognized and diligently improved by
Constantine. The Byzantine emperor was the head
of the Greek Church. In Mohammed temporal and
spiritual functions were united. Such examples, con-
stantly present to the mind of Frederick, exerted no
small influence in determining his course. In the eyes
of his Sicilian subjects, the claim of the Imperial
Crown to religious supremacy was regarded as a royal
prerogative, which had been suspended but never re-
linquished. The usurpation of the Papal power was
a favorite project of European monarchs in succeed-
ing ages. It was seriously meditated by Philippe le
Bel in France during the fourteenth century. It
was effected by Henry VIII. in England during the
sixteenth century. The defiance of the Pope by the
great German Emperor was, even at the distance of
three hundred years, one of the inspiring causes of
the Reformation. The spirit of intellectual liberty,
oppressed at first, was victorious in the end.
The genius of Frederick II. was five centuries in
advance of his time. His most intelligent contempo-
raries were incapable of understanding his motives
or of appreciating his efforts for the regeneration of
Moorish Empire in Europe 57
humanity. No individual of that age accomplished
so much for civilization. He improved the condition
of every class of society in his dominions. He dif-
fused the learning of the Arabs throughout Europe.
He imparted a new impulse to the cause of education
in distant countries not subject to his sway; an im-
pulse which, while it was often impeded, was never
wholly suppressed. His liberal ideas excited the ab-
horrence of the devout. His superstitions evoked the
anathemas of the clergy. In his expedition for the
recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, his guards and coun-
cillors were Mohammedans. He attended service in
the mosques. He knighted the Emir Fakr-al-Din at
Acre. He feasted the envoy of the Sheik of the As-
sassins at Amalfi. At his court the astrologer was a
more important personage than the logothete.
Under the administration of this great prince per-
sonal merit was the best title to official promotion.
His most eminent ministers were of plebeian origin.
From them he exacted unremitting attention to their
duties. His suggestions to his ambassadors recall the
maxims of Machiavelli. As a negotiator, he had no
rivals in an age of shrewd and crafty politicians. His
erudition was vast, varied, and profound. To aid the
study of natural history he collected extensive menag-
eries. He read medical works and prescribed rules of
hygiene for his family and household. With his own
hands he drew the plans for his palace at Capua.
Magnificent hospitals, aqueducts, bridges, castles,
arsenals, arose in the imperial domains of Sicily
and Italy.
With all his accomplishments, Frederick was singu-
larly deficient in military ability and generalship. He
cared more for the pomp than for the victories of
war. His crusade was a campaign of diplomacy.
The defeat he sustained at the hands of the Parme-
sans, and which shook the foundations of his throne.
58 History of the
was effected by a rabble of peasants and women who
attacked his camp while he was absent on a hunting
excursion.
The gorgeous court of Palermo, with its stately
ceremonial, its heterodox opinions, its intellectual at-
mosphere, and the predominant Moslem influence
which controlled its policy, prescribed its customs, and
contributed largely to its importance, was at once the
envy and the scandal of Christendom. The bulk
of the imperial armies was composed of Saracens.
Philosophers and statesmen of the latter nationality
often engrossed, to the exclusion of all others, the
confidence and intimacy of the Emperor. His dif-
ferent consorts, in turn, subjected to Oriental restric-
tions, were attended by guards of African eunuchs,
colossal in stature, hideous in feature, splendidly
apparelled. His harems, luxuriant establishments,
not confined to Palermo, but scattered through the
cities of Southern Italy, were filled with Moorish
beauties from Syria, Egypt, Morocco, and Spain. A
number of their occupants always formed part of his
retinue in both peace and war. They journeyed after
the fashion of the East, in closed litters borne by
gayly caparisoned camels. Arab ladies, as remarkable
for wit and learning as for their personal charms,
mingled freely with the brilliant society of the capital.
Among the diversions of the court were the dances
of the East, feats of jugglers and buflfoons, amatory
improvisations of minnesinger and troubadour, games,
falconry, literary contests, magnificent banquets. In
these merry assemblies, where pleasure reigned su-
preme, the sensual was, however, never permitted to
prevail over the intellectual; they were enlivened by
philosophical discussions, by the application of prov-
erbs, by the stories of travellers, by the recitation of
ballads.
The personal aspect of Frederick did not corre-
Moorish Empire in Europe 59
spend to the expectations of those who had formed
an ideal from the fame of his talents and the extent
of his erudition. His stature was short, his shoulders
bent, his form ungainly and corpulent. He was bald
and near-sighted. His reddish beard indicated the
hneage of the Hohenstaufens. So insignificant was
his appearance, that an Arab writer, who saw him
at Jerusalem, asserts, with astonishment and contempt,
that if he had been exposed for sale as a slave he
would not have brought two hundred drachms of
silver. The general lustre of his character was marred
by many serious and fatal defects. He was tyranni-
cal, perfidious, hypocritical, superstitious, and inordi-
nately dissolute, even in a licentious age. The domestic
relations of the greatest of mediaeval emperors were
the reproach of the Papacy and the horror of Chris-
tian Europe. Like the infamous Marquis de Sade,
he considered tears and suffering the most desirable
prelude to libidinous pleasures. The festivals of the
imperial palace of Palermo were enlivened by the
performances of the singing- and dancing-girls of the
East. European females of the same profession,
during the Crusade, travelled in the royal train to
Acre, where the novelty of their appearance and cos-
tume amused the idle moments of the Moslem princes
of Egypt and Syria. Nothing in the career of Fred-
erick provoked the ire of the clergy more than this
concession to infidel curiosity. The gigantic Nubians
who watched over the Empress, and whose faces were
compared to " ancient masks," awakened the amaze-
ment of foreign travellers at the Sicilian court.
The most frightful torments, whose ingenious
cruelty was long remembered with fear and hatred,
were inflicted on his victims. Many were dismem-
bered by wild horses; some were crushed by ponder-
ous cloaks of lead; others were slowly roasted by fire
applied to brazen helmets in which their heads had
62 HiSTOEY OF THE
splendid civilization, at once the exemplar and the
pride of antiquity. The Phoenicians had early estab-
lished trading-posts on its shores, and had introduced,
with the commercial policy and enterprise of their
race, the arts, the learning, and the culture which had
laid the foundation of the wealth and renown of
Carthage. To the Phoenicians succeeded the Greeks
of Phocsea, that flourishing Ionian seaport which, for
dignit}^ elegance of manners, and erudition, ranked
among the most famous cities of the Grecian name.
Its principal colony, Massilia, exercised dominion over
nearly all of the territory south of the Loire; a ter-
ritory already rich and populous, and containing,
among the twenty-five important cities subject to its
jurisdiction, such great and opulent communities as
Monaco, Nice, Aries, Nimes, Beziers, Avignon. Un-
aided by extraneous support, the people of Massilia,
in spite of the efforts of barbarian neighbors and
jealous rivals, preserved their political and mercantile
importance until their conquest by Ceesar degraded
their commonwealth to a subordinate rank among the
provinces composing the gigantic fabric of the Ro-
man Empire. The policy of that great soldier de-
spoiled them of their dependencies, crippled their
resources, and turned to letters and the arts the restless
spirit which had formerly been engrossed by the pur-
suits of commerce and the exercise of arms. Before
its political annihilation, the colony of JNIassilia, in
extent, in population, in wealth, and in intelhgence,
ranked higher than any Grecian republic that had ever
existed, save Athens alone. Its possessions were not
acquired by conquest. They were gradually absorbed
through the imperceptible influence of superior knowl-
edge, the example of prosperity and luxury, the
acuteness of sagacious and aggressive rulers, the ex-
hibition of magnificent monviments of artistic genius.
Under the Romans, this region, designated as Narbon-
Moorish Empire in Europe 63
nese Gaul, was one of the most flourishing provinces
of the empire. Its Hterary culture was proverbial. Its
schools were famous. It is mentioned by Livy as
having preserved without contamination the arts, the
manners, and the laws of Greece. The ancient pohty
of Massilia is eulogized by Cicero as a scheme of
almost ideal perfection. The philosophers of that city
enjoyed such a reputation for learning, that the pa-
tronage of such of the Roman youth as were ambitious
of the most finished education was equally divided
between it and Athens. The first three professors of
Latin rhetoric at Rome were Gauls educated at Mas-
silia. Its intellectual progress was greatly assisted
by the mercantile spirit of its citizens, whose faculties
were developed and enlarged by constant and familiar
intercourse with other nations. Its navigators pos-
sessed all the skill and activity of their Phoenician
ancestors. Their vessels were seen on the western
coast of Africa, in the Euxine, in the Baltic, in the
distant fjords of Norway. Their factories and their
agents were established in Germany and Britain.
Their internal trade was most extensive and impor-
tant. They traversed the course of the Rhone and
the Loire from their sources to the sea. Every tribe
in communication with those waterways paid tribute
to their shrewdness and shared the benefits of their
experience. The Greek language was familiar to the
inhabitants of Gaul; it was even adopted and used
by the Druidical priesthood, and eventually became
the general medium of commercial and social inter-
course. The dark and cruel superstitions and legends
of the country were supplanted by the elegant and
graceful fictions of Paganism; by the songs, the
dances, the floral games, the pomp of sacrifice, the
joyous festivals, which characterized the religious
ceremonials of Greece and Italy. The existence of
such conditions could not fail to exeii; a marked
62 History of the
splendid civilization, at once the exemplar and the
pride of antiquity. The Phoenicians had early estab-
lished trading-posts on its shores, and had introduced,
with the commercial policy and enterprise of their
race, the arts, the learning, and the culture which had
laid the foundation of the wealth and renown of
Carthage. To the Phoenicians succeeded the Greeks
of PhocEea, that flourishing Ionian seaport which, for
dignity, elegance of manners, and erudition, ranked
among the most famous cities of the Grecian name.
Its principal colony, Massilia, exercised dominion over
nearly all of the territory south of the Loire; a ter-
ritory already rich and populous, and containing,
among the twenty-five important cities subject to its
jurisdiction, such great and opulent communities as
Monaco, Nice, Aries, Nimes, Beziers, Avignon. Un-
aided by extraneous support, the people of Massilia,
in spite of the efforts of barbarian neighbors and
jealous rivals, preserved their political and mercantile
importance until their conquest by Csesar degraded
their commonwealth to a subordinate rank among the
provinces composing the gigantic fabric of the Ro-
man Empire. The policy of that great soldier de-
spoiled them of their dependencies, crippled their
resources, and turned to letters and the arts the restless
spirit which had formerly been engrossed by the pur-
suits of commerce and the exercise of arms. Before
its political annihilation, the colony of Massilia, in
extent, in population, in wealth, and in intelligence,
ranked higher than any Grecian republic that had ever
existed, save Athens alone. Its possessions were not
acquired by conquest. They were gradually absorbed
through the imperceptible influence of superior knowl-
edge, the example of prosperity and luxury, the
acuteness of sagacious and aggressive rulers, the ex-
hibition of magnificent monuments of artistic genius.
Under the Romans, this region, designated as Narbon-
Moorish Empire in Europe 63
nese Gaul, was one of the most flourishing provinces
of the empire. Its literary culture was proverbial. Its
schools were famous. It is mentioned by Livy as
having preserved without contamination the arts, the
manners, and the laws of Greece. The ancient polity
of Massilia is eulogized by Cicero as a scheme of
almost ideal perfection. The philosophers of that city
enjoyed such a reputation for learning, that the pa-
tronage of such of the Roman youth as were ambitious
of the most finished education was equally divided
between it and Athens. The first three professors of
Latin rhetoric at Rome were Gauls educated at Mas-
silia. Its intellectual progress was greatly assisted
by the mercantile spirit of its citizens, whose faculties
were developed and enlarged by constant and familiar
intercourse with other nations. Its navigators pos-
sessed all the skill and activity of their Phoenician
ancestors. Their vessels were seen on the western
coast of Africa, in the Euxine, in the Baltic, in the
distant fjords of Norway. Their factories and their
agents were established in Germany and Britain.
Their internal trade was most extensive and impor-
tant. They traversed the course of the Rhone and
the Loire from their sources to the sea. Every tribe
in communication with those waterways paid tribute
to their shrewdness and shared the benefits of their
experience. The Greek language was familiar to the
inhabitants of Gaul; it was even adopted and used
by the Druidical priesthood, and eventually became
the general medium of commercial and social inter-
course. The dark and cruel superstitions and legends
of the country were supplanted by the elegant and
graceful fictions of Paganism; by the songs, the
dances, the floral games, the pomp of sacrifice, the
joyous festivals, which characterized the religious
ceremonials of Greece and Italy. The existence of
such conditions could not fail to exert a marked
64 History of the
effect upon the minds of a people, barbarous indeed,
yet highly susceptible to impressions which appealed
equally to its imagination and its interest. Narbon-
nese Gaul, under the emperors, maintained the literary
and artistic pre-eminence which had, from time im-
memorial, distinguished it among the provinces of
Western Europe. The most copious, elegant, and
euphonic of languages was still spoken throughout
the various municipalities that formerly acknowledged
the jurisdiction of the Massilian Republic. The capi-
tal was especially renowned for its philosophers and
physicians; for its patronage of letters; for the re-
finement of its society; and for the number and
excellence of its educational institutions, which, in the
estimation of many distinguished Romans, took pre-
cedence of the schools of Greece. Imperial favor
bestowed upon the Narbonnese province monuments
whose perfection was eminently worthy of the taste
and splendor of the Augustan age. Its cities were
adorned with beautiful temples, porticos, and theatres.
In the gardens were peristyles of precious marble,
mosaic pavements, superb fountains, vases filled with
flowers, and statues of gilded bronze. Sumptuous
baths administered to the luxury of the populace. In
the circus, the chariot race displayed a pomp but little
inferior to that exhibited by the imperial spectacles of
Rome. Aqueducts of colossal dimensions brought,
for a distance of many leagues, the water demanded
by the requirements of an immense population. In
no portion of the Roman world have such a variety
of the architectural memorials of classic elegance
survived as in the district of Provence and Langue-
doc. From the magnificent ruins that still remain,
we are enabled to form a grand but inadequate idea
of the structures created by imperial munificence and
Grecian taste which have perished by the neglect and
the violence of thirteen centuries. After the Roman
Moorish Empire in Europe 65
came the Goth, and then the Arab, himself at first
but a marauder. By degrees, however, his nobler in-
stincts obtained the mastery over his love of rapine;
his predatory strongholds were transformed into
centres of trade; and with the habits and religion of
the Orient were introduced all the benefits and all
the vices of its voluptuous existence. The Moorish
principality of Narbonne was subject to the Western
Emirate only forty years; yet, during that short
period, the impressions produced by Moorish occu-
pancy were so deeply stamped upon the mental and
physical characteristics of the population that no sub-
sequent revolutions have ever been able to entirely
efface them. The practical genius of the Arab, which
considered utility as the first and most valuable of
all the objects of civilization, was again exhibited in
the improvements applied to all the arts and avoca-
tions of life which sprang up in the track of his vic-
torious armies. The Oriental principles of agricul-
ture, with its painstaking tillage of the soil, its perfect
irrigating system, its introduction of foreign plants,
were applied with wonderful success to the delightful
region watered by the Rhone and the Garonne. Many
varieties of grain, including the buckwheat, originall}^
brought from Persia, and which at that time obtained
its significant name of sarrasin, were imported from
Spain. The bark of the cork-tree, still one of the
greatest sources of wealth to Catalonia and Provence,
was then first made known to Europe. The boundless
evergreen forests on the slopes of the Pyrenees were
utilized for the manufacture of pitch and rosin. In
every district, the breed of horses was improved by
crosses with the best blood of Arabia. Innumerable
articles of luxury preserved in museums and private
collections beautiful objects of silver, ivory, and
crystal, damascened armor, and silken robes attest
the variety and excellence of the Moorish manufac-
VoL. III. 5
66 History of the
tures. The popular dances and other amusements of
Southern France are also striking reminiscences of
the Moslem ascendency. While Arabic literature
must have exercised an important influence upon the
public mind of Provence and Languedoc, no histori-
cal information has been transmitted to us relative to
its character, and even its existence during this period
is largely a matter of conjecture. There is no doubt,
however, concerning the effects subsequently pro-
duced by familiarity with Moorish civilization, estab-
lished by conquest and perpetuated by the aid of mer-
chants and travellers. The learning, the elegance, the
refinement, and the infidelity of the court of Cordova
were carried beyond the Pyrenees. The writings of
Averroes and other Arabian philosophers were studied
with pleasure by the scholars of Southern France.
That entire region was more Mohammedan than
Christian and more infidel than either. The nobles
adopted polygamous habits and maintained harems
filled with concubines. A thriving trade in eunuchs
was carried on with the Spanish Arabs, whose profits,
it was notorious, w^ere principally engrossed by eccle-
siastics. A passionate love of poetry developed the
troubadour, a most important factor of European in-
tellectual progress, and the counterpart and repre-
sentative of the Arab bard, whose improvisations had,
from time immemorial, been the delight of the emo-
tional tribes of the Desert. A language infinitely
sweeter and more melodious than modern French, and
exhibiting a strong similarity to the Italian formed
at the court of Frederick II., became the vehicle of
charming poetical compositions, which satirized the
lives of the priesthood, recounted the achievements
of the tournament and the foray, and celebrated, in
graceful and rhythmic hyperbole, the beauty and
fascinations of woman. This tongue, known as the
Langue d'Oc, while indirectly derived from the Latin,
Moorish Empire in Europe 67
owed, in fact, nothing to classic associations or influ-
ence. It was the first of the numerous family of
languages and dialects of Roman origin which, during
mediseval times, attained to any marked degree of
perfection in grammatical construction or in elegance
of expression. It is a significant fact that it onl)^
obtained a permanent foothold in countries once sub-
ject to Arab domination. It spread eventually all
over the South of Europe. It was spoken in Valencia,
Barcelona, and the Balearic Isles, whose dialects are
now corrupted forms of the ancient Limousin. The
productions of which it formed the medium were read
in Italy, Germany, Sicily, and England. It adapted
itself with such ease to the purposes of the poet that
it almost seemed constructed especially for that va-
riety of composition. It early incurred the hostility
of the Church on account of the Albigensian heresy;
and in 1248, Innocent IV., by a special bull, forbade
its study to all good Catholics. The rapidity with
which it was perfected, the extent of its distribution,
the number of provincial dialects to which it gave rise,
the richness of the literature which adopted it, and
the suddenness and completeness of its extinction con-
stitute one of the most interesting and extraordinary
phenomena in the annals of linguistics.
The literary and social condition of Southern
France was, with the single exception of Sicily, which
bore to it a remarkable resemblance, anomalous among
the countries of civilized Europe. Its population was
singularly cosmopolitan; half a score of races had
contributed to its formation ; it had inherited the cult-
ure of the Greek, the Roman, the Arab; mixture of
blood and comparison of creeds had produced uni-
versal toleration of belief and widespread and un-
compromising skepticism. In its courts, its schools,
its learned professions, Semitic ideas, traditions, and
influence preponderated. Not a few Moslems had
68 History of the
established themselves in the cities of Nimes, Nar-
bonne, and Toulouse, and the Jews abounded in every
community which afforded encouragement to scien-
tific attainments or facilities for traffic. The system
of public instruction was essentially Hebrew; the
faculty of the famous medical school of Montpellier,
the successful competitor of that of Salerno, was at
first principally composed of Jews and Mohamme-
dans, and retained for centuries, amidst foreign con-
quest and domestic convulsion, the impress derived
from the character of its founders. The closest rela-
tions were maintained between the academies of
Languedoc and those of imperial Sicily and Moorish
Spain. This intimacy was strengthened by the multi-
plicity of mercantile transactions arising from a con-
stant interchange of commodities dependent upon a
vast and profitable trade. The capitals of Cordova,
Seville, and Palermo were better known to the people
of Provence than any of the Mediterranean cities to
the inland towns of continental Europe; now, great
centres of wealth, commerce, and civilization; then,
despised as semi-barbarous and rarely visited. The
continuance of this friendly intercourse with Moham-
medan countries, confirmed at once by congenial pur-
suits and by the powerful influence of pecuniary
advantage, was portentous in its effects, and boded
ill to the propagation of Christianity and the main-
tenance of ecclesiastical discipline. The succession of
numerous forms of worship, distinct in their origin,
unlike in their ceremonial, irreconcilably hostile in
their polity, each asserting divine infallibility, yet
each, in turn, overthrown by a new and more popular
belief, was not favorable to the existence of any
religion. Strongly attached to the cheerful festivals
of Paganism, the inhabitants of Southern France had
embraced the precepts of the Gospel with insincerity
and reluctance. Their disposition, their traditions, the
Moorish Empire in Europe 69
souvenirs of classic magnificence and beauty which
surrounded them, all contributed to confirm the deeply
grounded affection they entertained for the creed of
their fathers. Nowhere else in Christendom was such
a spectacle presented of all that is attractive to the
luxurious, and all that is admired by the intellectual,
as that disclosed by the life of the polished and cor-
rupt society of Southern France. That entire region
was subjected to the highest cultivation of which the
soil, naturally fertile and improved by every resource
of scientific agriculture, was susceptible. The cities,
large and populous, enjoyed every advantage of
wealth which could be derived from an extensive
traffic. Beziers had sixty thousand inhabitants, a
larger number than any town in England. Nimes,
Aries, Carcassonne, were but little inferior in size and
grandeur. Every commercial device was familiar to
the people. Their shrewdness was proverbial. Their
trade was enormous. A knowledge of banking and
bills of exchange, with many important fiscal regu-
lations, had been introduced by the Jews of Barce-
lona.
Toulouse, one of the most beautiful and licentious
of mediaeval capitals, was the focus of this splendid
civilization. It was the seat of the Muses, the home
of chivalry, the goal of every devotee of love and
of ambition. There the knightly adventurer sought
distinction in the tournament and the tilt of reeds,
martial amusements borrowed from the Moor.
Thither journeyed the troubadour and the jongleur,
sure of hospitality and reward in palace and castle,
in the comfortable home of the merchant, in the
humble dwelling of the laborer. There was crowned
the poet, successful in the literary contest, two hun-
dred years before the laurel was placed upon the brow
of Petrarch in the Capitol at Rome. There were held
the Courts of Love, where women argued and deter-
70 History of the
mined, with all the grave impartiality of a judicial
tribmial, questions involving the laws of gallantry,
their observance and their violation. The potentate,
who, under the modest title of count, governed this
great and opulent realm, enjoyed a larger measure
of authority than most representatives of the royal
houses of Europe. His family was of high antiquity,
and its rank dated back for many centuries. The rich
fiefs of Beziers, Foix, Quercy, Montpellier, and Nar-
bonne, with their numerous important dependencies,
acknowledged his authority as suzerain. Wealthier
than any of his Christian contemporaries, he was more
powerful in all the attributes of monarchical dignity
than the King of France. His dominions included the
greater part of the territory south of the Loire, and
embraced the fertile and flourishing districts bounded
by the Garonne, the Isere, the Mediterranean, and the
Alps. He had achieved renown in the Crusades. His
sword had won for him the principality of Tripoli.
He had been an unsuccessful but prominent competi-
tor for the throne of Jerusalem. In his public rela-
tions he was the soul of chivalric courtesy ; in his
personal habits a fastidious voluptuary; in belief a
skeptic; in tastes a Mohammedan. The conspicuous
valor he displayed on the fields of Palestine was, in
some degree, neutralized by a moral cowardice which
instinctively shrank from a conflict involving the
dearest privileges for which humanity can contend,
the preservation of political integrity and the exer-
cise of the right of intellectual freedom. Brave, im-
petuous, sensual, vacillating, and insincere, such was
Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, the representative
of the most polished and dissolute state in Europe.
The political organization of the various cities and
provinces composing the County of Toulouse pre-
sented a strange anomaly. Some were, in all but
name, republican; their magistrates, under the title
Moorish Empire in Europe 71
of consuls, administered the affairs of government,
and were elected by the public voice of the people.
The civil regulations of others partook rather of the
nature of feudal tenures in which the most oppressive
privileges had been relaxed or entirely discharged.
But neither the feeble copy of the institutions of
ancient Rome nor the barbarous laws of mediaeval
tyranny were sufficient to compel the obedience of
such a heterogeneous population. The authority' of
the elective magistracy was frequently defied. The
fealty of the great vassals was but nominal. The
jurisdiction of the suzerain was, under various, and
sometimes under frivolous, pretexts, questioned or ig-
nored. There was no organized military power to
enforce the mandates of the ruling authority. Ener-
vated by pleasure, the people of Languedoc and
Provence passed their existence in a constant round
of intellectual diversions and refined sensuality. The
martial sports of the chase and the tourney did little
but recall the profession of arms, once the only occu-
pation worthy of the dignity of the mediaeval cava-
lier. Thus, broken up into semi-independent com-
munities, destitute of military resources, and incapable
of systematic defence or united action, the power of
the Count of Toulouse was ready to crumble at the
approach of the first resolute aggressor. The civili-
zation represented by that power lacked the indispen-
sable essentials of every permanent government,
loyalty and religion. Want of centralization, and a
multiplicity of rulers, weakened the patriotic attach-
ment of the people, and discouraged the growth of an
enlightened and healthy public sentiment. National
pride could not exist when there was no royal per-
sonage to whom all could appeal, no common country
to exalt and defend. In addition to these serious im-
pediments to durability and progress was added an
absolute want of rehgious feeling. Numerous causes
72 History of the
had combined to produce this condition. Comparisons
of many forms of faith had exposed their defects and
inconsistencies, and led to a general rejection of them
all. The Crusaders had familiarized all Europe, and
especially France, with the manners and religion of
the Mussulmans. Hundreds of enterprising mer-
chants had assumed the cross, much less for the piety
it was presumed to indicate and the sacred privileges
it conferred, than for the worldly advantages to be
procured by traffic with distant, and otherwise in-
accessible, regions. Their glowing reports of Oriental
civilization had dissipated the remaining prejudices of
a people whose intercourse with the Moslem kingdoms
beyond the Pyrenees had long predisposed them in
favor of a race held in peculiar abhorrence by the See
of Rome. The silks and gold of Syria and Egypt
appealed far more eloquently to the passions of the
multitude than the genuflexions of the priest or the
rosary and cowl of the friar. Even the sacred pro-
fession was invaded by the prevailing spirit of tolera-
tion, itself dependent on material interests; the in-
ferior clergy dealt as brokers in the money of the
East, and from the mints of bishops and metropolitans
were issued coins impressed with Mohammedan texts
and symbols. In addition to this extraordinary parti-
ality for infidel customs, and the practical renunciation
of the vow of poverty, which were calculated to arouse,
especialy among the vulgar, a suspicion of heterodoxy,
the entire body of the Proven9al clergy had become
thoroughly debased and profligate. Those of high
rank vied with the nobles in prodigal and ostentatious
luxury. Prelates constantly abandoned the duties of
their office for the fascinations of the chase and the
licentious pleasures of intrigue. They travelled in
state with numerous trains of ladies and attendants,
the richness of whose appointments rivalled that of a
royal equipage. The Ai'chbishop of Narbonne kept
Moorish Empire in Europe 73
in his pay a band of foreign outlaws who levied black-
mail on opulent citizens, and who, protected by their
ecclesiastical patron, defied the weak and disorganized
civil power of the land. In every gay assembly where
the song of the troubadour recounted the triumphs
of love and gallantry, or aimed its satirical shafts at
the failings of the priesthood, the bishop was fore-
most in laughter and applause. It was a common
saying among the people that while the apostles were
poor, their successors, plunged in luxury, " loved fine
horses and splendid garments, white women and red
wine." The vices of the higher class, confii*med by the
possession of great wealth and secure from the censure
of ecclesiastical tribunals, surpassed, in turpitude and
effrontery, the excesses of any other society then exist-
ing in Christendom.
The episcopal dignitaries were usually of noble
blood and connected with the most ancient and distin-
guished families of France. Not so, however, with the
inferior members of the hierarchy. The avarice, the
extortion, the hypocrisy, the drunkenness, and the de-
bauchery universally imputed to all included in that
sacred profession had made it infamous. The prel-
ates, indeed, enjoyed all that could be purchased or
exacted by eminent birth, boundless opulence, and
irresistible power. The priests, however, were nearer
the people, and were taken from the lowest ranks of
society. Such was their degradation, that it had
passed into a proverb. The populace, by way of im-
precation, were accustomed to say, " May I become a
priest before I do such a thing!" Livings were filled
exclusively from the ranks of the coarse and brutal
peasantry, for no citizen of the middle class would
permit his son to be disgraced by the assumption of
the tonsure. Even respectable vassals recoiled from
the equivocal honors of the Church, and the lords, who
regarded the tithes as a portion of their legal per-
74 History of the
quisites, were forced to select as candidates for holy
orders the most ignorant and degraded of their de-
pendents and slaves. The rude manners and vicious
tastes engendered by a debased and plebeian origin
increased the hatred and contempt of the scoffing
multitude. In some parts of Languedoc public feel-
ing ran so high against the clergy, that priests, to avoid
personal violence, were forced to conceal from the
passers-by all outward evidences of their calling.
The Pope, long aware of the insults offered to his
dignity and of the evils which threatened the faith
of Rome, had frequently condemned in unmeasured
terms the conditions which imperilled the existence of
all religion in the South of France. Ecclesiastical
fulminations, however, possessed no terrors for the
blithe and careless inhabitants of Provence and Lan-
guedoc. The Papal bulls only furnished another
amusing theme for the sarcasm of the poet. Inter-
dicts, elsewhere so potent, in that land, alone of all
those subject to Christian authority, were treated with
derision. The pretensions of the legate of the Apos-
tolic See were ridiculed in his very presence, and even
the Holy Father himself was not able to escape the
raillery and censure of those whom experience had
made acquainted with the shocking venality and license
of the Roman court. Every vestige of moral influence
upon which rested public consideration for the clergy
had disappeared. The churches were all but deserted.
Latin, the language of the altar, had been discarded
for the Langue d'Oc, the idiom of the skeptical and
the dissolute. In many parishes bells had ceased to
announce the hour of worship, for no one heeded
them. The priest, intent on his pleasures, was only
too ready to abandon the duties enjoined by his call-
ing, especially when there were few to listen and still
fewer to contribute. The revenues of the Church,
greatly diminished, were diverted into channels en-
Moorish Empire in Europe 75
tirely foreign to the purpose for which they had nomi-
nally been collected. Some were appropriated by the
nobles, whose vassals had been presented to livings.
Vast sums were squandered by licentious prelates in
vices whose enormity appalled every sincere Christian.
The greatest profits which enured to the benefit of
the clergy were derived from the uncanonical and pro-
hibited practices of simony and usury. No effort was
made to conceal the existence of these abuses, and the
ecclesiastical residence was generally recognized as the
head-quarters of brokerage in bills and benefices.
Thus had the Roman Catholic Church, by the cor-
ruption and effrontery of its ministers, forfeited the
respect of mankind. Its edicts were disregarded. Its
lessons were unheard. The pious turned with loathing
from the hypocritical exhortations of religious teach-
ers whose lives were stained with every crime, and
whose conduct presented examples of flagrant in-
iquity, which fortunately had few parallels outside
of their profession. The reverence once attaching to
the Vatican was sensibly impaired. While its policy
encouraged the promotion of the humble, its authority
necessarily suffered through the enrolment into the
priesthood of men without education, refinement,
honor, decency, or independence. Public respect
could not be retained by a class degraded by servile
associations and still subject to the arbitrary caprices
of a secular lord. As in every community are to be
found many individuals to whom religion is a neces-
sity, so in the Proven9al cities and villages devout
persons turned from the ancient and discredited
hierarchy to other quarters for the inestimable con-
solations of forgiveness and hope. Such conditions
infallibly generate heresy, and the eagerness and
unanimity with which heterodox opinions were
adopted in that populous region demonstrated at
once the extent of the evil and the necessity for the
76 History of the
radical measures by which its removal was acccom-
plished.
The centre of intellectual culture in Southern
France was the University of Montpellier. It has
been well said that the history of the faculty of that
famous institution is to a great extent the history of
medicine in Europe. During the early part of the
twelfth century, Montpellier was the most important
emporium of France. The trade of the entire country
converged to that point. Its commercial establish-
ments were upon a colossal scale. Its population was
cosmopolitan. The conquests of Ferdinand and
Jaime, the occupation of Cordova, Seville, Majorca,
and Valencia had attracted to Languedoc, and espe-
cially to its most thriving city, tens of thousands of
Mohammedan refugees. The Jews had long been
numerous in that region, and were already conspicu-
ous for wealth, intelligence, and power.
From that epoch dates, in reality, the foundation
of the University. A school of medicine had existed
there for nearly a century, but to the influx of Moorish
and Hebrew learning must be attributed the reputa-
tion soon obtained by that institution throughout Eu-
rope. The majority of its professors belonged to
those two nationalities. They brought with them the
experience, the methods, the remedies, and the instru-
ments of the most eminent and successful practitioners
of the Peninsula. Many of them from time to time
visited the colleges of Granada and Toledo for the
purpose of adding to their stock of information, and
of profiting by the superior facilities those schools
afforded. A broad and catholic spirit controlled the
organization and the policy of the University. Sec-
tarian prejudice was unknown. Teacher and scholar
were free to worship according to their belief, or to
entertain and express the most radical philosophical
opinions. Intellectual attainments and marked ability
Moorish Empire in Europe 77
were the principal qualifications for admission to the
Faculty.
The Lords of Montpellier, and subsequently the
Kings of France, were the patrons of the school.
They conferred upon it at different times great and
extraordinary privileges. The rights it had enjoyed
under the Count were confirmed by the sovereign.
Philip of Valois, in 1331, by a special edict placed
its doctors under the royal protection. Charles VI.,
in 1350, granted its beadles permission to carry silver
maces as symbols of its dignity. The Duke of Ara-
gon, in 1364, exempted it from taxation. The patents
of Charles VIII., in 1484, transferred all causes in
which the professors and students were interested to
the jurisdiction of the Governor of Montpellier. The
execution of legal process could only be made in the
presence of the Chancellor. To the officers of the
Faculty were committed the supervision and inspec-
tion of the apothecary shops of the city, in order to
insure the purity of the medicines dispensed.
At Montpellier were performed the first public ana-
tomical demonstrations of Christian Europe. The
surgical investigations of the School of Salerno had
been principally confined to the lower animals. Moor-
ish and Hebrew operators carried into France the
advanced ideas of Mohammedan Spain, which, in
defiance of ancient prejudice and mediaeval supersti-
tion, sought for the knowledge of the location and
functions of the human organs in the intelligent and
systematic dissection of the human body. In the
thirteenth century, the corpse of a criminal was every
year given to the Faculty of Montpellier for this
purpose. Two hundred years elapsed before similar
demonstrations were authorized by the University of
Paris.
The Medical Academy of Montpellier inherited the
energetic and progressive spirit of its prototype, the
78 History of the
University of Cordova. It absorbed all the available
learning of antiquity. It adopted the maxims and the
methods of the great Arab surgeons and physicians of
the Peninsula. Among its most celebrated professors
were graduates of the School of Salerno. It utilized
the talents and experience of famous practitioners of
every country and of every creed. There the works
of Hippocrates and Galen were translated from the
Arabic, in which idiom they had been preserved, into
the Latin, by which they were to be transmitted to
posterity. There the learned disquisitions of Aver-
roes, Avicenna, Rhazes, and Abulcasis were enriched
with voluminous and invaluable commentaries.
A long and thorough course of study was required
to obtain the title of Doctor. The office of Chancellor
was one of great dignity, and carried with it many
privileges. It may well be imagined that ecclesiastical
imposture could not flourish in the shadow of such an
institution. Such was its influence, even with a class
naturally hostile, that as early as the last half of the
twelfth century the First and Second Councils of
Montpellier prohibited all members of the clergy from
teaching medicine, under severe penalties. The scien-
tific character of the studies pursued in that city, and
the success of those who profited by them, discredited
the practice of shrine-cure and the imposition of relics.
The theological odium attaching to the University was
not less than that which had stigmatized kindred seats
of learning among the Arabian infidels. Many works
of its professors were publicly burned by the Inquisi-
tion.
And yet no class of men was more highly esteemed
by the orthodox sovereigns of Christendom than the
graduates of the University of Montpellier. They
were the friends and confidants of popes and kings.
Their heretical principles were forgotten at the bed-
side of the sick and the afflicted. Arnold de Villanova
Moorish Empire in Europe 79
was the physician of Clement V., of Peter III., King
of Aragon, of Frederick II., Emperor of Germany.
Guy de Chauliac was the regular medical adviser of
Clement VI., of Innocent VI., of Urban V. While
its greatest reputation is derived from its influence on
medicine, the labors of the School of Montpellier
were not confined to that science. They gave rise to
many valuable contributions to various branches of
literature. The astronomical researches of the Span-
ish Jew, Profatius, in 1300, his tables of longitude;
his calculations, which established the declination of
the sun and the inclination of the earth's axis, by
means of which terrestrial motion was conclusively
demonstrated, have not lost their authority in our
time.
The treatises of Gordonius on Diseases of the Kid-
neys, of Gerard de Solo on Hygiene, of Raymond
de Vinario on the Plague, indicate to the medical
scholar the extraordinary accomplishments of the
members of the Faculty of Montpellier. The great
work of Guy de Chauliac on General Surgery was the
main reliance of European operators for two hundred
and fifty years.
The mad extravagance of the Proven9al nobility,
their lavish expenditures, the pomp of their retinues,
their efforts to surpass in prodigality and luxury the
splendid festivals of imperial Rome, aroused the
wonder of Europe. Their chargers were shod with
silver. Their dogs wore collars set with precious
jewels. It was an ordinary occurrence for a wealthy
lord to scatter great sums to be scrambled for by the
populace. One sowed like seed thirty thousand gold
crowns in the neighborhood of his castle. Another
enriched his noble guests by the bestowal of gifts of
incalculable value. A third sacrificed upon a funeral
pyre, in the presence of an immense assemblage, thirty
of his finest horses. There was apparently no limit to
80 History of the
the intoxication produced by the pride, the opulence,
and the voluptuousness of Proven9al society. In that
society differences in rank were not so sharply defined
as in those of other countries. The serf, indeed, re-
tained his degradation; but the ordinarily intermedi-
ate class of burghers were practically the equals of the
feudal aristocracy. Many of them boasted a purer
and a more distinguished lineage. They used coats
of arms. They had their mansions, their embattled
castles, their bodies of organized retainers. They
excelled in martial exercises, and it was no unusual
occurrence for knights who had crossed swords with
the infidels of Palestine to be worsted by them in the
tournament. The title to noble rank was thus to a con-
siderable extent connected with municipal residence.
In the cities all was splendor, gayety, courtesy. Out-
side of them, the inhabitants were for the most part
condemned to villeinage. In the Courts of Love,
whose absurdity has caused them to be regarded as
mythical by many subsequent writers, judicial deci-
sions were rendered on every point of amorous casu-
istry. The mock solemnity with which such matters
were propounded and determined was only exceeded
by the dissolute tendency of the customs that governed
the proceedings of these extraordinary tribunals. No
greater proof of the prevalent laxity of morals could
be desired than that furnished bv their canons. Thev
encouraged the violation of the marriage vow. They
defined with minute and curious particularity the rules
of intrigue. The nature of the questions debated by
high-born ladies in the presence of a numerous audi-
tory was such as cannot be even designated, still less
described, in a modern book. The brazen coarseness
which characterized these ridiculous controversies
afforded a remarkable contrast to the refinement of
manners otherwise displayed by those who partici-
pated in them. The popularity of this unique system
Moorish Empire in Europe 81
of jurisprudence was so great, that, at the time of the
Albigensian crusade, it was on the point of being gen-
erally established in every part of France. No insti-
tution, even in those times of heresy and unbelief, was
so fatal to religion. It undermined the vital princi-
ples by which society is held together. It defied the
injunctions and ridiculed the dogmas of the Church.
The Virgin, as the object of adoration, was sup-
planted by the mistress of the cavalier, often a woman
of dissolute character and the recipient of the adula-
tion of a score of favored lovers.
A charming picture of mediaeval society is pre-
sented by the life of the educated classes of Lan-
guedoc and Provence. Everywhere was dispensed
the most elegant and lavish hospitality. The table was
spread before the open door of the castle. Marked
attention was shown to the guest, whether merchant,
knight, pilgrim, minstrel, or troubadour. He was
welcomed with unaffected cordiality. He was ten-
dered the use of the hot-air bath. A wreath of flowers
was placed upon his brow. The ladies themselves
ministered to his necessities. In accordance with a
custom borrowed from the Arabs, the choicest mor-
sels were placed in his mouth by dainty white and
jewelled fingers perfumed with lavender and rose.
The diversions of the day were feats of strength and
displays of horsemanship, the game of chess, the chase
with the falcon, the contest for the prize of knightly
dexterity in the lists of the tournament. In winter,
the company gathered about the huge fireplace of the
banqueting hall; in summer, under the rustling fo-
liage of the park. The evening was spent with song
and dance, with the recital of the story-teller, with the
improvisations of the poet. The feast was enlivened
by wit, by jest, by sparkling repartee. The returned
crusader related his adventures in the Holy Land,
the bloody encounters of the siege of Acre; the
Vol. III. 6
82 History of the
quarrels of the Christian chieftains; the events in
which were displayed the dignity, the valor, the noble
generosity of Saladin. The trader, just from the
Moorish cities of Spain, then, indeed, sadly fallen
from their first estate, but still exhibiting in their
fading splendor no unworthy image of their former
grandeur and power, described in glowing language
the beauties of Cordova, Valencia, and Seville. Be-
tween cavalier and mistress communication was con-
stantly maintained unobserved, through the silent and
pantomimic medium of the language of flov/ers.
In this brilliant company the troubadour was pre-
eminently conspicuous. Although often the butt of
the equivocal speeches and practical jokes of his com-
panions of both sexes, attentions which he did not
fail to repay with interest in the cutting satire of
his verse, his opinions, generally authoritative, were
always heard with respect. He determined points of
precedence and etiquette. He gave wholesome advice
to young ladies on the care of their persons, on their
behavior at table, on their treatment of lovers. His
principal duties were, however, the glorification of the
family of his patron and the celebration of the charms
of his mistress. All courted his favor. Few were rash
enough to provoke his enmity. In the society of
Languedoc, whether the dependent of a noble house
or a careless wanderer from court to court, he was
always the central figure.
Among the inmates of the baronial palace, if an
intrigue existed, it was concealed by the mask of de-
cency. The poet, in the burning verses which enumer-
ated the charms of his lady-love, never mentioned her
name, or betrayed the slightest indication of her iden-
tity. His attachment he regarded in the same light as
the tribute paid by a Pagan worshipper to his tutelary
goddess. The laws of his code demanded impene-
trable reserve. The object of his devotion was, to all
Moorish Empire in Europe 83
appearances, an imaginary personage, an ideal of
feminine perfection.
The highest development of splendor, taste, intelli-
gence, and luxury was to be found in the feudal castle.
In the cities, it is true, great pomp and extravagance,
the results of the accumulation of incredible wealth,
were constantly displaj^ed. The mansions of many
opulent merchants far surpassed in the magnificence
of their interiors the palaces of the King of France.
On occasions of festivity priceless hangings of bro-
cade and velvet, of silken tapestry and cloth of gold,
were suspended over the streets. The households of
these powerful citizens were on a scale commensurate
with the dignity of their masters. Hundreds of
retainers obeyed their bidding. Their apartments
were full of singers, dancers, buffoons, and eunuchs.
There was no delicacy not to be found upon their
tables; no means of sensual enjoyment which did not
contribute to the stimulation of their blunted appe-
tites ; no vice with which they were not familiar.
Thus in the courts of the numerous principalities
of Southern France, amidst the delights of a society
gay, skeptical, licentious, the troubadour was the
arbiter of taste, the oracle of the populace, the idol
of women. Public opinion was far from discour-
aging the practice of gallantry in an age which scoffed
alike at the maxims of social morality and the cere-
monies of religion. The mistress of the vagrant bard
was always the wife of a noble, not infrequently a
princess of the highest dignity. To her was addressed
his passionate homage, often in strains whose expres-
sions are too bold and ardent for translation into a
modern language. The adoration they convey, unsur-
passed in fervency by any vows ever offered at the
shrine of a celestial divinity, affords a key to both the
influence of the poet and the relaxation of manners.
The life of the latter was passed in an intoxicating
84 History of the
atmosphere of music, flattery, and amorous intrigue.
His power over society was not less important than
that formerly exercised b}?^ the repudiated clergy, and
was, morally speaking, fully as pernicious. The adu-
lation he lavished upon the object of his affections,
represented as the personification of every physical
grace and every mental accomplishment, could not fail
to fire the romantic imagination of the goddess in
whose veins coursed the hot blood of the South, and
whose vanity caused her to recognize in this extrava-
gant flattery and devotion the highest tribute to her
charms. Around the bard, in the brilliant circles of
Aries or Carcassonne, was grouped a mirthful and
appreciative auditory, ladies in brocades and jewels,
knights in burnished armor, pages in silk and gold.
In that animated assemblage the restraints of rank,
never rendered irksome by the exactions of pompous
ceremonial, were for the moment entirely suspended.
The conversation sparkled with epigram, equivocal
allusions, and good-humored satire. Its character,
formed by the dissolute customs of the age, often
transgressed the rules of propriety which govern
modern social intercourse. Inspired by such sur-
roundings, the troubadour arose and began the recital
of an impromptu amatory ode. Young, slender, and
handsome, his physical appearance alone might well
elicit female admiration. His long, dark locks fell
in ringlets upon his shoulders. A golden chain hung
about his neck. His fingers glittered with gems.
From his belt an enamelled poniard was suspended.
His picturesque costume of brilliant colors, his silken
doublet, his velvet cloak, set ofl* to the best advantage
the graces of his person, and revealed the popularity
which he enjoyed with his patrons. All eyes were
turned upon him, for his talents were of the highest
order, and the object of his admiration was present,
perchance in the person of the chatelaine herself. As
Moorish Empiee in Europe 85
he chanted his verses in accents, now ardent, now
pathetic, now humorous, the enraptured audience,
swayed by conflicting emotions, broke forth alter-
nately into tears and laughter. His ambiguous ex-
pressions, his licentious images, whose boldness the
severity of modern criticism would reject as offensive
to decency, were received with every manifestation
of approval by his delighted hearers. The nature of
the entertainment was often varied by the perform-
ances of the jongleur. That personage, Avho, as a
retainer of the troubadour, occupied a position analo-
gous to that of esquire to knight, united in his calling
the office of minstrel, juggler, story-teller, and buf-
foon. Sometimes he accompanied the song of the
poet upon the harp or the guitar; sometimes, with
expressive gesticulation, he recounted the legends, the
martial exploits, and the popular romances whose rela-
tion was a favorite diversion of mediaeval society. His
rank was ordinarily far beneath that of his compan-
ion; yet it was not unusual for the two professions
to be combined; and there were instances when their
positions were reversed through the vicissitudes of
success or misfortune.
The extraordinary privileges enjoyed by these va-
grant sonneteers were by no means entirely attribu-
table to the amusement which their talents afforded.
Their compositions were the sole medium by which
public opinion could be aroused and the abuse of
power and the excesses of social depravity restrained.
The influence of the pulpit, long omnipotent in the
regulation of morals, had declined ; in some localities
it had wholly disappeared. Centuries were destined
to elapse before the press, the most formidable weapon
of political censure, could become available. The
satire of the poet, whose verses, carried from place
to place, in a fortnight became familiar to a hundred
communities, was recognized as the instrument of
86 History of the
moral correction, the dread of the tyi'ant, the scourge
of the shamelessly dissolute. Its potent effects were
feared by wrong-doers of every class, and by none so
much as by those of exalted position.
The fierceness and rancor displayed by the trouba-
dours in their attacks upon obnoxious personages, in
an age of irresponsible authority, can only be ex-
plained upon the hypothesis that they were encouraged
and protected by the force of overwhelming public
sentiment. Their poems were composed in the Lan-
gue d'Oc, the first perfected and the most important
of the Romance languages, an idiom of great com-
pass and power, and beyond the Loire used by the
educated and polished members of society alone. The
finest of these productions frequently owed their
origin to authors destitute of literary culture; many
troubadours could not even read. They evinced no
admiration of the beauties of nature. The stanzas
were isolated, often absolutely without continuity. A
common similarity of type and resemblance of ideas
pervaded all. It is a singular circumstance, that in
form and metrical arrangement the last poem of a
troubadour was not, in any important particular, su-
perior to the oldest, at present, known ; there was no
improvement in two hundred years. In delicacy of
sentiment, in vigor of expression, in sweetness of
melody, these compositions are not excelled by the
lyrics of any nation. Their analogy to those of the
Spanish Mohammedans is striking and self-evident.
There is the same play of words, the same predomi-
nating class of subjects, the same far-fetched and
extravagant similies, the same incessant obtrusion of
the author's personality. The Langue d'Oc contains
a greater number of rhyming terminations than any
other language except Arabic; a coincidence to be
attributed to imitation or a common poetic taste, and
certainly not the result of accident. In the produc-
Moorish Empire in Europe 87
tions of both idioms the prevaiHng rhyme is by dis-
tichs, and occurs throughout the entire poem, the sec-
ond verse of every distich always ending with the
same sound; and the meaning is often obscured or
sacrificed to preserve continuous harmony of versifi-
cation.
The taste for letters was introduced into France
partly as a consequence of the Moslem occupation,
but principally by the Jews, who remained after their
allies had been driven back over the Pyrenees. The
similarity of taste and expression existing between the
poets of these two branches of the Semitic race is
apparent to every one who has compared the Bible
and the Koran. ^lany of the Hebrew colonists of
Narbonne and Marseilles had been educated at Cor-
dova, and all spoke the Arabic language with fluency.
Not a few were scholars of marked ability, gifted with
poetic talents, the possessors of large libraries. These
superior advantages had great weight with a semi-
barbarous people steeped in ignorance, with no mental
resources except the interchange of gossip, and the
exhortations of a priest, who often could not under-
stand his breviary. The ferocious and intolerant spirit
with which the Jew was generally regarded, counter-
acted, in a measure, the effect of his influence, but the
power of intellect and culture finally prevailed. The
Hebrews familiarized the population of Languedoc
and Provence with the art, the science, and the litera-
ture of the Arabs. Through their agency an acquaint-
ance with the Arabic language and literature became
in Southern France and in Sicily indispensable to the
education of a scholar. Another factor of great im-
portance in the intellectual development of Southern
Europe was the number of Moslem refugees who
sought safety in foreign lands from the influx of
African barbarism and from the perils incident to con-
stant revolution. A large proportion of these were
88 History of the
philosophers, whose high attainments had made them
dangerously conspicuous, and whose heretical doc-
trines were obnoxious to the stern fanaticism of the
Almoravides. Such an immigration could not fail to
produce a profound impression upon the mental char-
acteristics and literary habits of any people.
The intercourse of all classes of the population in
Southern France was distinguished by every manifes-
tation of courtesy. The degrees of precedence, the
style of dress, the order of amusements, the arrange-
ment of the banquet, were governed by established
rules of etiquette.
Nor was this life by any means devoted to frivolous
pursuits. The great hall of the castle was often the
scene of debate between famous scholars and eccle-
siastics. There, too, were performed the burlesque
miracle-plays of the age. An expensive library was
the pride of the count. The philosopher was fre-
quently, the astrologer almost invariably, a member
of his household. In the secret vaults of the labora-
tory, surrounded by crucibles and alembics, the adept
sought for the secret of potable gold ; from the sum-
mit of the keep the astronomer held nightly com-
munion with the stars.
An inclination to dialectical controversy, inherited
from their Greek ancestry; the subtle arguments of
Arab metaphysicians and natural philosophers ; com-
mercial intercourse with the Orient, which familiarized
them with the religious theories and principles of vari-
ous heretical beliefs; and the corrupt and debauched
lives of the clergy, which excited the universal abhor-
rence of all, predisposed the piously inclined to the
acceptance of new forms of faith. Among the heter-
odox sects which arose in the early ages of Chris-
tianity, that of the Paulicians was the most numerous,
the most popular, and the most enduring. Its tenets
were partlj^ borrowed from those of the Gnostics, but
Moorish Empire in Europe 89
largely derived from the ancient Persian doctrine of
the two antagonistic Principles of Good and Evil,
ever contending for the mastery of the universe and
the empire of mankind. The peculiar ideas of this
Manichean sect had, from the first, awakened the ap-
prehensions and called forth the anathemas of the
Church. The mysticism which characterized them, the
ascetic life which they inculcated, appealed powerfully
to the superstitions and devout impulses which most
strongly influence the human mind. From Armenia
the belief of the Paulicians rapidly invaded every
province of the Byzantine Empire, and then, follow-
ing the lines of trade, made innumerable proselytes in
Germany, Italy, Spain, and France. It gave rise to
the Waldenses and the Albigenses, names of sad and
ominous import in the religious annals of Europe.
In no country were these false doctrines embraced
with such enthusiasm as in Provence and Languedoc.
Their adoption was not confined to the ignorant and
the obscure, for many personages of the most exalted
rank openly avowed their adherence to this danger-
ous heresy. Simplicity of creed and purity of man-
ners distinguished the new sectaries from the subjects
of the ancient hierarchy. They denied the real pres-
ence in the Eucharist; the value of baptism as a cere-
mony; the efficacy of absolution granted by a priest
whose calling was not unf requently dishonored by acts
of the most glaring profligacy. Their ministers dis-
carded the splendid vestments of the Roman Catholic
priesthood for simple robes of black. They rejected
the Old Testament, as inspired by the Spirit of Evil,
because of the sanguinary deeds authorized by a supe-
rior power, which, by the extermination of populous
communities, indicated irreconcilable enmity to the
human race. Bells and images of every kind alike
shared their animadversion. They advocated benevo-
lence, abstinence, chastity, celibacy. In self-abnega-
90 History of the
tion many of them exceeded the discipline of the most
exacting of the monastic orders. They denounced as
one of the most grievous oiFences against morahty the
practice of every form of lying and deceit. In their
creed the sacerdotal office and the ceremonial of the
Church were invested with no sanctity, and could
confer no benefits, if not associated with honesty of
purpose and purity of life. Their very existence was
a protest against Papal infallibility and an assertion
of the right of individual judgment. Their liberal
opinions, their charity, the persuasive eloquence with
which they promulgated their doctrines, obtained for
them the respect of the nobility and the ardent devo-
tion of the multitude. The name of the obnoxious
sect was to every consistent member of the Catholic
communion a term of peculiar infamy and reproach.
Throughout the region tainted with this heresy,
which derived its name from the diocese of Albi, where
its professors were most numerous, the authority of
the Vatican was undermined or entirely destroyed.
The habits of the clergy had prejudiced all classes
against them. The churches were empty. Payment
of tithes had ceased. Vassals subject to ecclesiastical
jurisdiction refused obedience and withheld their trib-
ute. In certain districts it was unsafe for a priest to
appear upon the highway. The public exhortations
of friars, whose extraordinary influence was now for
the first time disclosed, were interrupted by shouts of
derision and flying missiles. At Toulouse, the centre
of the Albigensian doctrines, a renegade prelate,
usurping the functions of the Pope, convoked at in-
tervals councils of heretic bishops. The recalcitrant
sectaries possessed houses of worship, ecclesiastical
residences, cemeteries. The piety or fears of the
devout bestowed upon their clergy valuable estates
and great sums in legacies. That portion of the
community which did not accept the new behef
Moorish Empire in Europe 91
which probably equalled the rest in numbers, and
certainly surpassed it in wealth and social importance,
infected with the theories of Arabic philosophy was
thoroughly infidel. Against such rebels the thunders
of the Vatican availed nothing. Apostolic admoni-
tions were treated with ridicule. Interdicts had lost
their power. Even the Papal legate was treated with
scant courtesy. The missionary efforts of Dominic,
whose fiery zeal now began to raise him to eminence,
met with signal and ignominious failure. The Church
menaced at the same time by this serious defectioiij
by rebellion in her own temporal dependencies, and
by the aspiring genius of the youthful emperor, Fred-
erick II. was in great distress. At no time in her
history had she been confronted with such powerful
enemies or been exposed to more deadly perils. And
yet this beautiful land, now under the ban of the
Papal See, had scarcely a century before been re-
garded as one of the bulwarks of the Christian faith.
It was at Clermont that the first Crusade was pro-
claimed by the Languedocian Bishop of Puy, as the
representative of the Pope. A hundred thousand per-
sons from Southern France followed Peter the Her-
mit to Palestine. The famous Order of Hospitallers
was a Provencal institution. A large proportion of
its Grand IMasters were natives of Languedoc. The
treasure contributed by its people to the prosecution
of these chimerical expeditions of Rome was far from
inconsiderable. Such a radical change had increased
intelligence and the untrammelled exercise of reason
wrought in the minds of the inhabitants of the most
civilized country of Christian Europe.
The malignant genius of Innocent III. was, how-
ever, equal to the emergency. In spite of the fact
that ecclesiastical corruption was principally respon-
sible for the widespread revolt against Papal au-
thority, the Count of Toulouse and his feudatories
92 History of the
were, in exquisite irony, appointed the ministers of
apostolic vengeance. The mandate was issued by the
Vatican that the Proven9al nobility should become the
persecutors of their vassals and lay waste their own
possessions with fire and sword. TsTo family ties, no
considerations of friendship or intimacy, no heredi-
tary connections, were exempted from the operation
of this atrocious decree. When it had failed, as it
was certain to do, as a last decisive expedient, a bull
was promulgated announcing a crusade against the
infidels of France. Their lands and their lives were
declared forfeited for the crime of heresy; all good
Catholics were called to arms; and the property of
the rebellious sectaries was promised as a reward to
the faithful champions of the Holy See. Every re-
source of Papal ingenuity and power was invoked.
From twelve hundred monasteries, bands of fanatics
issued to preach the crusade in all the states of Chris-
tendom. Plenary indulgence was granted to the
warrior who donned his armor in the cause of the
Church. Excommunication and the withdrawal of
ecclesiastical protection were denounced against any
guilty of hesitation or lukewarmness. In addition to
the general absolution authorized by the Pope, the
Crusaders were during the continuance of this Holy
War released from the payment of all pecuniary obli-
gations contracted prior to their enlistment, a conces-
sion which was practically equivalent to the repudia-
tion of their debts. The answer to the summons of
the Vatican was ready and unanimous. Every ab-
sorbing passion and every ignoble impulse love of
fame, religious zeal, national prejudice, desire of
novelty, insatiable cupidity, private malice attracted
the roving, the licentious, and the unprincipled to the
standard of the Cross. At that time Europe swarmed
with military adventurers, some of whom had served
in Palestine, in the trains of eminent personages;
Moorish Empire in Europe 93
others, the refuse of disbanded armies, were outlaws
and criminals who subsisted by plunder and extortion.
To men like these, the announcement of such an enter-
prise appeared a singular stroke of good fortune.
Provence and Languedoc embraced the richest terri-
tory, of its dimensions, west of Constantinople. Its
luxury and its opulence, its elegant civilization, the
magnificence of its cities, the vast treasures of its ware-
houses, the beauty of its women, were well known to
its envious and ambitious neighbors. It was also
known that no adequate means of defence existed, and
that the hands, which had in the midst of barbarism
evoked these marvels, lacked both the power and the
resolution to protect them. The frontier was exposed
to the invader. No efficient military force could be
assembled to successfully resist a hostile advance. The
stern qualifications of a soldier were not to be obtained
in the effeminate atmosphere of the Provencal court,
devoted to dancing, poetry, and amorous indulgence.
Physically as well as morally the soft and idle popula-
tion of the South was not fitted to cope with hardy
adventurers accustomed to arms from childliood, tried
in a hundred battles, and exercised daily in the broils
and contests inseparable from the society of a turbu-
lent and lawless age.
No incentive was wanting to arouse the enthusiasm
of every rank, from the king to the villain, from
the archbishop to the monk. The monarchy of
France, whose feudal obligations nominally included
the powerful states of the Pyrenees and the Mediter-
ranean, was, in fact, unable to enforce its mandates
beyond the Loire. The sovereignty of that rich coun-
try, now abandoned to conquest, could not fail to im-
measurably augment the power and consequence of
the crown. Ecclesiastical avarice and revenge looked
longingly upon the wealthy benefices usurped and
administered by heretics, the prospect of enormous
94) History or the
forfeitures, the certainty of a fearful retribution en-
tailed by religious errors and imj)ious defiance of the
admonitions of the Pope. Hope of the unbridled
indulgence of every brutal passion appealed to the
baser and more selfish instincts of the rabble, the
beggars, the robbers, the soldiers of fortune. The
popularity of the enterprise is shown by the numbers
who assumed the cross. It is estimated that from
three hundred thousand to half a million engaged in
the war, of whom nearly a hundred thousand were
fighting men who had seen military service. There
was not a government in Europe at that time able to
withstand the onslaught of such a force. Appalled
by the frightful prospect of impending destruction,
the Count of Toulouse consented to observe uncondi-
tionally the requirements of the Holy See, in the
delusive hope of averting from his dominions the tem-
pest which must involve all his subjects in one common
ruin. His punishment was inflicted with every cir-
cumstance of public ignominy and personal degrada-
tion. His excommunication, long since pronounced
for heretical opinions which he did not entertain, was
not revoked. Summoned before an ecclesiastical coun-
cil at Valence, he acknowledged his sins and promised
future obedience. Stripped naked to the girdle, he
was conducted, in the presence of a great multitude,
to the front of the principal church, where he abjured
his errors, and, his hands placed in those of the Legate,
he swore allegiance to the Pope. He conveyed to the
clergy, as security for his obligations, seven of the
strongest castles in his dominions, a fatal step, which
rendered his downfall, hitherto scarcely doubtful, now
a matter of absolute certainty. Then, a rope having
been passed about his neck, he was dragged through
the aisle to the altar, where he was scourged like the
vilest criminal. His recantation was repeated, and
absolution was finally pronounced under condition of
Moorish Empire in Europe 95
implicit submission, and with the promise that he
would assist in the prosecution of a war which in-
volved the devastation of his country and the exter-
mination of his subjects. These humiliating sacrifices,
made with the implied understanding that future im-
munity would be granted his vassals in case they sub-
mitted to pontifical authority, proved unavailing. The
clergy placed their own construction upon matters
in which they were at once prosecutors and judges.
Although the Count of Toulouse observed as far as
possible the degrading conditions through whose per-
formance he became reconciled to the Church, it was
not the policy of Innocent to deal leniently with those
who had disobeyed her canons, questioned her inspira-
tion, or intercepted her revenues. Pretexts were easily
found under which Raj^mond was accused of having
violated his covenants. His castles were declared
escheated to the Papacy. His actions were carefully
observed, and it became evident that his presence with
the Crusaders was enforced rather than voluntary.
The great army which had assembled to vindicate the
outraged majesty of the Vicar of Christ now clam-
ored to be led to battle. Their irresistible numbers
darkened the plains of Lyons and spread consterna-
tion among the peasantry, whose women they insulted
and whose substance they consumed. The eminent
prelates of the French hierarchy sanctioned by their
presence and their example the most awful of out-
rages on human rights and intellectual Hberty. The
religious character of the enterprise was indicated by
the predominance of the sacerdotal order; by the om-
nipresence of holy emblems, crosiers, censers, ban-
ners, relics ; by the mitre of the metropolitan ; by the
scallop-shell of the pilgrim; by the cowl and the
knotted cord of the friar; by the tattered garb and
emaciated form of the hermit. The clergy were
headed by Arnold, Abbot of Citeaux, the Papal Leg-
96 History of the
ate. Four archbishops and ten bishops, in their official
vestments, were conspicuous in the van. Monkish
zealots, whose untaught eloquence had inflamed the
worst passions of the ignorant populace of Europe,
brandishing crucifix and sword, and calling for ven-
geance against the abhorred sectaries whom divine
justice had delivered as a prey to the elect, foaming
at the mouth, and uttering maledictions and inarticu-
late cries, rushed to and fro through the maddened
and tumultuous throng. All wore the cross embroid-
ered upon the breast, in contradistinction to the Cru-
saders of Palestine, who wore it upon the shoulder.
In the train of the higher clergy were numerous
priests and thousands of dependents and retainers.
The Archdeacon of Paris, a distinguished member of
the church militant, was present in the capacity of
chief engineer. Despite his pacific calling, he proved
himself, in the discharge of the seemingly incongru-
ous duties of his new profession, one of the most
talented soldiers of the age. The shrewd and politic
Philip Augustus, while anxious to secure for the
Crown of France the substantial benefits certain to
result from the conquest and spoliation of the great
feudatories of the South, yet unwilling to share the
ignominy attaching to the undertaking, promoted it
in secret, but refused to openly employ the resources
of his kingdom in such a cause. The French nobility
also, for the most part, held aloof; but the names of
the Duke of Burgundy and the Counts of Nevers and
St. Pol have come down to us as instruments of the
apostolic wrath which extirpated the Albigensian
heresy.
Of all the leaders, spiritual or secular, Simon de
Montf ort. Earl of Leicester, was the most zealous and
distinguished. An English adventurer, of ancient and
illustrious lineage, he had long followed the exciting
career of a soldier of fortune, and had won a high
1
Moorish Empire in Europe 97
reputation for courage and military capacity among
the Christian warriors who contended with the infidel
in the wars of the Holj^ Land. In his political and
social relations, De Montfort was a man of excep-
tional probity, coui'tesy, and honor; but in matters
that involved the maintenance of ecclesiastical suprem-
acy, he was a monster of savage brutality, a remorse-
less persecutor, an incarnate fiend. His bravery, his
fanaticism, and his talents for war early secured for
him the admiration of the clergy, whose influence
eventually raised him to the supreme command of
the motley host which their exhortations had as-
sembled. The infamy of the Albigensian crusade is
inseparably associated with his name, which has de-
scended to posterity as the synonym of all that is
merciless, base, and treacherous in the history of re-
ligious persecution. Attendant upon their feudal
lords were long retinues of vassals, resplendent in
sumptuous armor and gaudy liveries, and the sturdy
yeomanry, now beginning to assert their importance
in the mailed armies of Europe. The promise of
boot}^ and glory, of pardon for past offences and of
immunity for future crimes, had, as in former Cru-
sades, drawn from every quarter the dregs of the city
and the camp, the footpad and the outlaw, the merci-
less slaves of rapine, lust, and superstition. This mob
was for the most part unarmed, but many were pro-
vided with scythes and other implements of husbandry,
impotent against the armor of the knight, but amply
sufficient for the destruction of those whom age, in-
firmity, or the disadvantages of sex rendered incapable
of defence. Confident in their immense superiority in
numbers, this fanatical and disorderly rabble swept
like a tornado over the smiling and fertile territory
of the Rhone. The authority of the Count of Tou-
louse, who, incapacitated from hostile action by his
humiliating compact with the Pope, was forced to aid
Vol. III. 7
98 History of the
the invaders, had been assumed by his nephew, Ray-
mond Roger. The latter, relying upon the strength
of his principal cities, Beziers and Carcassonne, two
of the best-fortified fortresses in Europe, awaited
the approach of the enemy with the calm intrepidity
born of the consciousness of right and the resolution
of despair. While the Crusaders were pitching their
camp, they were surprised by a sally of the besieged.
Overwhelmed by numbers, the latter were driven
back; the gateways, choked by the fugitives, per-
mitted the ingress of the enemy, and almost in an
instant the fate of the populous and thriving city of
Beziers was decided. In the horrible butchery that
ensued no quarter was shown. The old and the young,
the strong and the weak, perished alike under the
weapons of the infuriated assailants. Catholics ob-
tained no immunity by reason of their belief, but fell
by the side of their Albigensian neighbors. When the
soldiers, in the heat of the massacre, demanded of the
Papal Legate how they might distinguish the orthodox
believer from the heretic, that pious monster replied,
" Kill them all; God will know His own!" In the
Roman Catholic cathedral seven thousand corpses
were counted after the assault. Priests, clad in their
sacred vestments, fell at the very foot of the altar.
The population of the city had been greatly increased
by the neighboring peasantry, who had sought pro-
tection behind its ramparts. Of all this multitude, not
a single person escaped alive. The estimates of those
thus devoted to slaughter are variously given by dif-
ferent writers at from twelve to sixty thousand. The
city was pillaged and set on fire, and even the churches
and monasteries belonging to the See of Rome dis-
appeared in the indiscriminate destruction. The in-
vading army, flushed with triumph, and not yet sati-
ated with blood, next invested Carcassonne, whose
fortifications, still stronger than those of Beziers,
Moorish Empire in Europe 99
offered some hope of successful resistance. Its re-
sources, however, were seriously impaired by the num-
ber of refugees who had fled thither for safety. In
a few days the water gave out. Defective sanitary
conditions, increased by great masses of human beings
crowded together in a limited space, produced a pesti-
lence. A surrender was agreed upon, by which the
inhabitants were permitted to depart, leaving behind
them all their effects. In consequence of these rigor-
ous measures, the entire country was filled with
starving beggars, many of whom, but a week before,
had been living in affluence and luxury. The Vis-
count, Raymond Roger, whose safe-conduct had been
perfidiously violated, was imprisoned and died sud-
denty, probably of poison.
The examples of Beziers and Carcassonne were not
lost upon the terror-stricken people of Languedoc.
Strongholds and villages submitted by the hundred
without resistance ; the garrisons of those castles which
held out were massacred to a man; the lands of the
heretic were parcelled out among the crusaders, under
the suzerainty of that faithful and consistent servant
of the Papacy, the Earl of Leicester. The establish-
ment of the Inquisition, under the auspices of the
Dominican order of friars, completed the ruin of the
country, whose civilization had long been a shining
beacon amidst the intellectual darkness of Christen-
dom. The classic monuments which had escaped the
violence of former ages were broken to pieces or de-
faced. The destruction of great cities, the dread of
mysterious tribunals, whose victims, immured in filthy
dungeons or devoted, in the name of religion, to awful
tortures and a lingering death, never saw again the
light of day, the insatiable rapacity of the clergy, the
tyranny of alien masters, depopulated entire districts
and turned the commerce upon which the prosperity
of Southern France principally depended into foreign
100 History of the
channels, where the property and person of the mer-
chant could be reasonably secure. The beautiful and
melodious language of the troubadours, the parent of
the modern idioms of Latin derivation, which seemed
about to be adopted by all the people of French
extraction, was abandoned, and degraded to a patois
which, much corrupted, is still spoken by the Gascon
and Catalan peasantry. The gay diversions, the
dances, the literary contests, the musical chants of
the jongleur, the passionate and satirical verses of the
poet, the banquets, the Courts of Love, the hunting
parties, the tournaments, disappeared forever.
The Albigensian crusade is one of the darkest blots
upon the religious history of Rome. It gave rise to
the infamous maxim, then first officially promulgated
by Papal authority, that no contract made with here-
tics was binding upon a member of the Roman
Catholic faith. Then the civil power was for the first
time employed in the systematic and unrelenting sup-
pression of independent thought. Then was organ-
ized and set in motion the most gigantic and effective
engine of persecution that the world has ever known.
Then was perfected that grand and imposing fabric
of government which, begun and improved by the
genius of many successive pontiffs, rose to such a
towering height during the administration of Inno-
cent III., a system in whose policy the religious and
the secular powers, while theoretically separate, were,
in fact, closely co-ordinated and combined; which,
while draining of its revenues every kingdom within
its grasp, extolled beyond all virtues the merit of evan-
gelical poverty ; which, while discouraging philosophi-
cal studies, endeavored to secure a monopoly of learn-
ing, thus adding to the superiority attaching to a
sacred character and profession the influence derived
from mental attainments and unusual erudition ; which
fastened upon Europe an intolerable despotism, under
Moorish Empire in Europe 101
which it was doomed to suffer for more than three
hundred years, and which brought to the prosecution
of its ambitious designs every device of intrigue and
every method of intimidation, enforced by the inflic-
tion of punishments whose ingenious and merciless
atrocity had been hitherto unknown to the political
oppression of ancient or of medieeval times.
In this way was the absolute power of the Papal
system consolidated by one of the greatest of the
Supreme Pontiffs, through the extirpation of two
grand civilizations which for more than a century
had represented the intelligence, the culture, and the
science of Christian Europe.
I have thus related not in their chronological
order, but in the order of their importance the events
growing out of the rise, development, and suppres-
sion of the intellectual revolutions which, in the thir-
teenth century, appeared in Sicily and Southern
France, for the reason that they were the direct and
legitimate results of Arab conquest and the subsequent
promulgation of Arab philosophical opinions. A
striking analogy exists between the circumstances re-
spectively connected with these two great movements
of the human mind. Both arose in regions which had
been subject to Moslem domination. In both, after
the extinction of Saracen rule, the customs of the
vanquished race long maintained their influence over
the ruder conquerors, who insensibly adopted and dili-
gently observed them. Commercial relations strength-
ened the bonds already existing between Christian
master and Moslem tributary. In the heyday of their
prosperity, the courts of Toulouse and Palermo were,
in all but name and costume, Mohammedan. Indeed,
one of these exceptions scarcely applied to the Sicilian
capital, where the ample robes and spotless turbans
of the Moorish philosophers suggested at every step
the habits and traditions of the Orient. In Sicily, the
102 History of the
Arabic language was almost universally used by the
nobility and the mercantile classes; in Provence and
Languedoc, intercourse with the Moorish principali-
ties of Spain rendered its adoption necessary to a large
portion of the community ; in both countries its study
formed an essential part of a learned education. The
general trend of scientific thought, and its practical
adaptation to the intellectual requirements of the
people, is disclosed by the establishment of those two
great literary foundations, the medical colleges of
Salerno and Montpellier. In the curriculums of these
magnificent schools, which were by no means confined
to instruction in the art of healing, Arabic and
Hebrew literature, taught by professors of those
nationalities, predominated. The Romance idiom,
more widely diffused than any other tongue spoken
in Europe since the dissolution of the Roman Em-
pire, has, in a measure, survived the calamities of con-
quest and revolution ; still indicates its Arabic deriva-
tion by words daily heard upon the banks of the Seine
and the Danube ; and forms no inconsiderable portion
of the language of the English-speaking world. In
Italy, it made greater progress than in any other
country, advancing simultaneously through the North
from France and through the South from Sicily, su-
perseding the unformed dialects of the Latin Penin-
sula, and, through its adoption by the potentates of
Ferrara and Montferrat, it reached even the Greek
principality of Thessalonica ; its impress is to-day
apparent in Portuguese, in Castilian, and in the nu-
merous soft and guttural dialects of Spain.
From Moorish sources, through intercourse with the
Hispano-Arabs and the medium of French and
Sicilian conquest, were derived those maxims of
chivalry which modified the turbulent barbarism of
feudal Europe, the courteous gallantry of the tourna-
ment, idolatrous devotion to the female character, a
Moorish Empire in Europe 103
high sense of honor and personal dignity, and the
refining amenities of social life.
From these originals sprang the germ of modern
literature and the earliest models of modern poetry.
The Arabs were unrivalled masters of improvisation,
an art which attained an extraordinary degree of
popularity in the Middle Ages ; and the employment
of rhyme, the most important and striking charac-
teristic of modern versification, was familiar to the
Bedouin centuries before the appearance of Moham-
med. The vagrant bard of the Desert was the literary
progenitor of the troubadour, as was the Arabian
buifoon and story-teller the prototype of his com-
panion the jongleur, whose broad pleasantry and sug-
gestive antics diverted the appreciative and not over-
delicate assemblies of the Proven9al and Sicilian
courts. Through the schools of Montpellier and
Salerno, contemporaneous seats of learning and both
dominated by Arabian influence, the philosophy of
Averroes, the botany of Ibn-Beithar, the surgery of
Abulcasis, the agriculture of Ibn-al-Awam, the his-
tories of Ibn-al-Khatib, became familiar to the be-
nighted and priest-ridden people of Europe.
It was, however, in the impetus it gave to the asser-
tion of the right of private interpretation in religious
matters that Moorish influence was most marked and
permanent. One of the principal tenets of the Mos-
lem creed was toleration. On the other hand, the first
duty of the Christian was unquestioning obedience to
his spiritual advisers. The rapid and almost miracu-
lous development of the human mind during the thir-
teenth century was the inevitable consequence of a
policy based upon those principles whose application
had promoted the wonderful progress of every nation
ruled by the enlightened successors of Mohammed.
The parallel existing between the Sicilian and
Languedocian civilizations in origin, in progress, in
104 History of the
thought, in education, in skepticism, in the repudiation
of ecclesiastical interference, is continued even in the
date and the method of their extirpation. Both
reached their climax during the pontificate of Inno-
cent III., the exemplar of Papal autocracy, the ruth-
less foe of religious freedom, the evil genius of the
thirteenth century. Each was destroyed by a crusade
which under the mask of piety appealed to the most
sordid impulses and degrading instincts of humanity.
Both were followed by conflicts, seditions, and perse-
cutions which endured for centuries. But the fires,
while apparently quenched, still smouldered under the
ashes of their victims. The principles advocated by
philosophical thinkers at the courts of Raymond and
Frederick formed the basis of the creeds of Lollard,
Huguenot, Puritan. All of the blessings of civil and
religious liberty now enjoyed by the enlightened na-
tions of the earth, all of the wonderful mechanical
contrivances which Hghten toil, diminish suffering,
facilitate communication, encourage commerce, pro-
mote manufactures, and conduce to the general hap-
piness of the human race, are indirectly derived from
the impulse given to philosophical inquiry and scien-
tific progress b)^ the Norman kings of Sicily, the Em-
peror Frederick II., and the Counts of Provence, ani-
mated by the spirit and emulous of the achievements
of Ai'ab civilization. These inestimable benefits are
inseparable from the innate right of every individual
to freely exercise and profit by his mental faculties.
That right the Church has always denied as subversive
of her alleged prescriptive title to universal sover-
eignty over the opinions of mankind. In Europe it
was first publicly asserted upon the banks of the
Guadalquivir, and the advantages its untrammelled
practice affords the present generation are a priceless
legacy of the founders of the Moslem empire in Spain.
Moorish Empire in Europe 105
CHAPTER XXIV
THE SPANISH JEWS
711-1492
Influence of the Semitic Race on Civilization Enterprise of the
Ancient Jews Their Eminent Talents Their Power dur-
ing the Middle Ages Their Universal Proscription Their
Condition under the Moors of Spain Their Extraordinary
Attainments Their Devotion to Letters Their Academies
Rabbis as Ambassadors of the Khalifs Learned Men
Poets^ Physicians, Statesmen, Philosophers Maimonides :
His Genius and His Works His Character Preponderating
Influence of the Spanish Jews in Government and Society
Their Necessity to the Ruling Classes They are driven to
Usury Their Prosperity They are favored by Alfonso X.
and Pedro el Cruel Their Proficiency in Medicine Obli-
gations of Mediaeval and Modern Science to the Jews Their
Wonderful Survival under Oppression Their Exile from
the Peninsula Their Sufferings The Taint of Hebrew
Blood in the Aristocracy of Spain and Portugal.
The preponderance of Semitic influence is one of
the most remarkable phenomena in the annals of
human civilization. The progress of those nations,
which in ancient times attained the highest rank of
intellectual culture, is directly traceable to that influ-
ence. The success of the Semitic element in modify-
ing the character of eveiy people with which it had
been brought in intimate contact, either by conquest
or through commercial intercourse, is one of the most
striking and instructive incidents of history. From
the days when the Phoenicians controlled the trade of
antiquity, profiting by their thorough knowledge of
humanity, whose avarice they stimulated by the intro-
duction of unknown luxuries, and whose fears they
excited by the invention of portentous fables ; through
106 History of the
the Middle Ages, whose tyrants and inquisitors plun-
dered and oppressed the Hebrew bankers and mer-
chants of Europe, down to our time, when the Jew is
not only the possessor of a large proportion of the
wealth of the globe, but also a dominating force in
the business community of every city and village of
the Old and New Worlds, the enterprising genius of
the Semitic race has been paramount in its control over
the minds and the fortunes of men. And not merely
in a mercantile but in a religious point of view is this
influence manifest. The Scriptures and the Koran
monopolize the pious reverence of the civilized world.
The successors of Mohammed in Hindustan alone
changed the faith of forty-one million souls. The
most important dogmas of the Church, the leading
maxims of kingly government, are of Semitic origin;
the majority of the popular legends and tales which
compose the folk-lore of France, Germany, Scan-
dinavia, and Britain are indigenous to the Valley of
the Nile or the plains of Arabia. Asiatic ideas, which
dominated the comparatively insignificant geographi-
cal area of the continent of Europe whose apprecia-
tion of the advantages of literary and scientific in-
vestigation made it so conspicuous amidst mediaeval
ignorance, have maintained their power unshaken
through many centuries. To the impulse thus im-
parted to letters, modern society owes a debt which it
long repudiated, and which it is even now loath to
acknowledge. Among those races which have exer-
cised the greatest influence on human destiny that of
the Hebrews is pre-eminently distinguished. From
the earliest times of which history makes mention, the
Jews have occupied an exalted place among civilized
nations. They were among the first of traders, mer-
chants, navigators. Neighbors of the Phoenicians, they
imbibed the commercial spirit of that adventurous
people, accompanied their expeditions, participated in
Moorish Empire in Europe 107
their enterprises, shared their profits, and with them
overcame the obstacles which invested the navigation
of unknown and mysterious seas. They were not slow
to recognize the immense commercial advantages to
be obtained from the development of the boundless
resources of the Spanish Peninsula, whence the Tyrian
and Sidonian mariners brought such quantities of
silver that their vessels could scarcely transport it,
notwithstanding that the anchors, the most common
utensils, and even the ballast, were composed of that
precious metal.
The accounts of the reign of Solomon aiFord abun-
dant evidence of the wealth and prosperity of the
Hebrews. Their abilities and services were highly
appreciated by the most enlightened governments of
antiquity. They were invited by the Ptolemies to
establish colonies on the banks of the Nile. They were
often intrusted by the Roman emperors with the col-
lection and disbursement of the imperial revenues.
The Emperor Hadrian declared that during his
travels in Egypt he had never met a Jew of that
country who was not an expert mathematician. In
the far Orient, where their ancestors had once been
detained in ignominious captivity, they rose to be the
confidential friends of powerful monarchs. They
were known and welcomed in every seaport of the
Mediterranean, and their thirst for gain even induced
them to boldly encounter the perils of the barbarous
countries of Europe. In all their social and political
relations, they maintained their reputation for that
mental superiority which is still one of the marked
characteristics of the Hebrew race. All of the knowl-
edge extant among contemporaneous nations the
secret lore of the Egyptians, imparted in mysterious
temples under the shadow of the Pyramids ; the hoary
traditions of the Magi ; the rich inheritance of classic
antiquity; the argumentative skill acquired in the
108 History of the
Museum of Alexandria and the philosophical schools
of Athens was the patrimony of the Jew. His cu-
riosity was awakened by travel and by contact with a
hundred diiferent peoples included within the sphere
of his commercial activity; his genius was developed
and matured by studious industry; and the affluence
resulting from his shrewdness enabled him to profit to
the utmost by his unrivalled opportunities. No fact
is better established than that the intellectual improve-
ment of a nation, its progress in the arts, its scientific
acquirements, its literary culture, have a direct and
absolute dependence upon its material prosperity and
the independent pecuniary circumstances of its schol-
ars and learned men. While poverty is often an in-
centive to that perseverance which insures success, it
is a condition which only affects individual and not
national development. Without leisure, there can be
no studies; without studies, no advance. Another
factor of paramount importance in the evolution and
maintenance of civilization, and one to which the
Hebrew was deeply indebted, was the wide and varied
experience derived from cosmopolitan habits and asso-
ciations. This intercourse was facilitated by the easy
and rapid means of international communication at
the disposal of the Jewish trader. The Mediter-
ranean, which washed the shores of three great conti-
nents, presented no obstacles to the enterprise of the
Phoenicians, whose intimate connections with the Jews
gave the latter advantages enjoyed by no other people;
and the fabled monsters invented by those astute navi-
gators to damp the ardor of other maritime adventu-
rers, and which survive in the traditions of classic
mythology, possessed no terrors for the allies and
friends of the Tyrian merchants and sailors. No area
of equal extent in the world offered so diversified and
instructive a spectacle of human life and manners as
the winding coast of that great inland sea. With its
Moorish Empire in Europe 109
cities and its kingdoms, founded under different
political conditions, living under different systems,
governed by different laws, frequent and prolonged
visits had early made the Jew familiar. To the au-
dacious navigator who had sailed over the mysterious
Ocean, far beyond the Pillars of Hercules, the coast-
ing of the Mediterranean was a trifle. In subsequent
times the military highways of the Roman Empire
whose construction, the first work after the invasion of
a countrj^ destined to subjection, indicated the fate of
its people, and insured their obedience with far more
certainty than the fortified camps of the legions
afforded the Hebrew merchant easy access to the ut-
most limits of the vast region subject to imperial au-
thority. But it was not only in lands generally acces-
sible to commercial enterprise that the mercantile and
intellectual activity of the Jew was displayed. With
the periodical caravans he traversed the Arabian
Peninsula, and braving the perils of the Desert the
stifling heat, the sand-storms, the robbers who thrived
amidst its desolation collected and distributed the
precious commodities of Yemen. He penetrated to
the centre of Ethiopia ; his costume and his wares were
known to the inhabitants of every city on the Red
Sea and the Persian Gulf. The coast of Britain was
visited by Jews long before the invasion of Csesar.
The restless, adventurous spirit, so universal that it
became a national characteristic fostered through un-
told generations, and the extensive and profound
acquaintance with the motives and the affairs of
humanity which resulted from its exercise, is the
principal secret of the prodigious and phenomenal
development of the Hebrew mind. Other considera-
tions of no less importance contributed largely to this
result. In the estimation of those who strictly ob-
served the precepts of the law, and to whom were
committed the instruction of youth and the guidance
110 History of the
of the community, idleness was considered one of the
most despicable of vices. " Whoever," say the learned
rabbis, " does not teach his son some trade, rears him
for a life of brigandage;" and the sedulous inculcation
of this principle led to its universal adoption and prac-
tice, until its effects are to-day discernible in the habits
of every individual of Hebrew extraction. In ancient
times there was no industrial occupation whose require-
ments were unfamiliar to the Jewish artisan, no pro-
fession in which the scholars of that nation did not
excel. The talents of the latter were often unprofit-
ably employed in commentaries on the Talmud and
whimsical interpretations of the Scriptures, whose
texts were at times distorted to support some absurd
and extravagant conception which the fruitless in-
genuity of the doctors of the law, devoted to meta-
physical subtleties, had invented. The Talmud was
regarded with even greater reverence than the Penta-
teuch. Its diligent perusal was required as a duty;
children were familiar with its maxims long before
their minds were sufficiently developed to thoroughly
comprehend them; and the mastery of this volumi-
nous and incongruous compilation was regarded as
the rarest and most desirable of mental accomplish-
ments. From the study of this work was derived the
partiality for mysticism, magic, and oneiromancy,
topics which formed so large a proportion of ancient
Hebrew literature, and which frequently dissipated
the efforts of genius which might have been exercised
in more practical and advantageous employments. In
the Talmud, however, are also to be found the germs
of medical science in which, from the remotest an-
tiquity, the Jews were distinguished, and whose pur-
suit, thus sanctioned by an authority regarded as
divine, became the favorite pursuit of that extraordi-
nary people. Some of its ideas and principles had
been learned from the Magi of Persia; others were
Moorish Empire in Europe 111
borrowed from the Egyptian priesthood. The more
numerous, and by far the most valuable, precepts
of that science, however, were a portion of the in-
heritance transmitted by the noble school of the
Ptolemies. With all were mingled not a few puerile
superstitions which exalted the virtues of charms and
amulets. The Bible gives many instances of diseases
and their treatment, which in that age was the pecu-
liar province of the Levites. The talents of the He-
brew thus early directed to medicine and botany
arrived eventually at an extraordinary degree of de-
velopment; and his adaptive ingenuity was revealed
in the discovery and application of many indispen-
sable drugs of the Materia Medica, and in the intelli-
gent use of the instruments and caustics of the sur-
geon. In ancient Chaldea and Babylonia there were
no physicians. The priesthood, as in the Middle Ages,
enjoyed a monopoly of learning, which, so far as the
practice of medicine was concerned, rested upon no
more substantial foundation than the imposture of the
charlatan. The cure of disease was effected by the
exorcism of evil spirits; and such is the tenacity of
venerable ideas and the lamentable credulity of the
human mind that, through the influence of a certain
class whose pecuniary interests are directly involved,
this superstitious belief, with others equally absurd,
still prevails among the members of educated commu-
nities even in our enlightened age. The difference
between the f etichism of the African savage, the med-
iaeval relic-cure, and the so-called Christian Science of
modern days is one of degree and not of kind. In
the infancy of civilization every malady was attrib-
uted to demoniacal possession. The Jews were the
first to detect the tiiie nature of disease and to realize
the necessity for the employment of physical remedies,
where heretofore, through the medium of spells and
incantations, the aid of the supernatural alone had
112 History of the
been invoked. By the adoption and application of
rational principles, they revolutionized the theory and
practice of medicine. Their attempts to thus partially
emancipate the human mind from the degrading thral-
dom of superstition brought upon them the anathemas
of the priesthood wherever these innovations were
attempted. The wonder-workers of Pagan temples
and the monkish custodians of Christian shrines saw
with dismay their incomes decreasing as a consequence
of the successful ministrations of the Hebrew prac-
titioner. It was not without reason that the latter
became an object of clerical animadversion, for the
offerings annually bestowed by grateful credulity
upon the custodians of some apocryphal relic of im-
aginary virtues not infrequently exceeded in value the
revenues of a city. Much of the prejudice everywhere
existing against the Jewish name is thus attributable to
sacerdotal malevolence, originallj^ excited by interfer-
ence with material interests. But even in an age of
ignorance homage was paid, however reluctantly, to
the ascendency of intellectual power; and the Jews
flourished in countries where the laws did not tolerate
their presence and sovereigns were pledged by their
coronation oaths to their destruction. Political neces-
sity proved stronger than popular odium; and the
strange anomaly of a proscribed race, whose existence
was condemned by the civil and ecclesiastical codes
alike, flourishing in the midst of implacable enemies
was exhibited in every country of mediseval Europe.
This peculiar condition was due to the dominating
force of intellect alone. It is true that toleration was
frequently purchased with gold; but the Jews were
the sole depositaries of real knowledge, and without
their wise and practical counsels the wheels of gov-
ernment could not be kept in motion. This indispen-
sable necessity of maintaining in positions of honor
and power a class whose nominal disabilities degraded
Moorish Empire in Europe 113
them below the legal status of cattle was a result of
the illiterate and priest-ridden state of the Dark Ages.
The cause of the universal prejudice existing
against the Jews from time immemorial has been the
subject of much speculation, but has never been defi-
nitely ascertained. That prejudice long antedates the
Christian era. They were banished by the Egyptians,
enslaved by the Persians, despised by the Greeks, per-
secuted by the Romans. So little were they esteemed
by the latter, that during the wars with Hadrian four
Jews were bartered for a modius of barley. A well-
founded tradition, repeated time and again by classic
historians, declared that they were expelled from
Egypt for fear that the plague might be communi-
cated by the loathsome diseases with which they were
afflicted. In that country, as elsewhere subsequently,
they were isolated from all other members of the
community. Moses is designated by ancient writers
as the " Chief of the Lepers." It is well known that
leprosy was first introduced into Italy by the soldiers
of Pompey, who contracted it in Palestine. This
awful malady was not only indigenous to the latter
country, but was generally considered a morbid physi-
ological condition peculiar to the Hebrew people, with
whom, in fact, it was chronic and hereditary, and
among whom it assumed its most malignant and
appalling form.
The national customs of the Jews were regarded
with peculiar abhorrence by the polished nations of
antiquity. They practised human sacrifices. Tacitus
says that they rendered distinguished homage to the
ass, an animal sacred to the Phoenician goddess As-
tarte. A golden head of that animal was worshipped
in their temples. The Bible repeatedly mentions the
fact that they were debased and incorrigible idolaters.
In Pagan Arabia they conformed to the religious
Vol. hi. 8
114. History of the
customs of the country, shaved their heads, venerated
the images of the Kaaba, and made the circuit of that
shrine upon their knees. The idea of the Resurrec-
tion, which, with that of the Trinity, formed no part
of the primitive behef of any Semitic race, but is a
purely Aryan conception, they learned during the
latter part of the Babylonian captivity. Its adoption
was far from unanimous, however, for it was always
repudiated by the Sadducees, reputed the most ortho-
dox and precisian sect of the Hebrew nation. They
sold their children into slavery. Their personal habits
were indescribably filthy. It was believed by the
African Christians that a peculiarly offensive odor,
an evidence of Divine wrath provoked by the tragedy
of the crucifixion, and which could only be removed
by baptism, emanated from them. Hatred of every-
thing non-Jewish was a ruling principle of their
nature and conduct, and every country in which they
were domiciled they betrayed, in turn, to the invader.
The moral and physical condition that of a race
of pariahs infected with foul distempers which char-
acterized them in ancient times presents a singular
contrast to that under which they actually existed
subsequently, and under which they exist to-day.
They were not affected by the great epidemics which
swept with devastating force over Europe during the
Middle Ages, although they were as fully exposed to
contagion as any of the nations which were decimated
by them. Their immunity to many of the most serious
ailments which afflict mankind is demonstrated by
every table of medical statistics. Their longevity, un-
questionably due to a strong constitution, is proverbial.
Their average annual death-rate, in both Europe and
America, is less than one-half that of persons of other
nationalities subjected to the influence of similar
conditions of climate, food, and occupation. Their
freedom from criminality and pauperism is one of
Moorish Empire in Europe 115
their most remarkable characteristics. Every lawyer
knows how rarely a Jew is seen in courts of justice,
either as a litigant, a malefactor, or a witness.
The propagation and improvement of a people
under circumstances which indicated their speedy and
inevitable extinction is one of the most curious prob-
lems in the annals of ethnology. Not only is it anom-
alous, but it is absolutely inexplicable under any scien-
tific and logical hypothesis which can now be advanced.
It would ordinarily be conceded that a race affected
with congenital leprosy, whose habits were uncleanly,
and whose members constantly intermarried, must
certainly perish in a few generations. It would also
not be denied that such a race would be especially
hable to visitations by epidemics, and that its reduced
capacity for resistance would induce an extraordinary
fatality. Not so, however, with the Jews. They grew
stronger by intermarriage. They threw off the disease
which had once made them odious in the sight of men.
The plague and the typhus which desolated the homes
of their neighbors passed them by. They not only
survived, but throve under persecution which would
have exterminated any other branch of the human
family. Their tenacity of life, the persistence of their
institutions, the boundless power they wield in the
commercial world, their versatility of character, their
success in the most difficult undertakings, their na-
tional and religious organization maintained in the
face of appalling obstacles, tend to confirm the an-
cient tradition that they are the Chosen People of
God.
The Hebrew, whatever his capacity or experience,
was in the eye of the law immeasurably inferior to the
most humble and ignorant of those who ruled him. He
paid higher taxes than any one else. His testimony
was not competent in a court of justice. He was ex-
cluded from the enjoyment of office. If, having be-
116 History of the
come an apostate through force or policy, he addressed
a word to one who was loyal to the faith and tradi-
tions of his people, even though of his own blood, he
was condemned to slavery. He was not permitted to
abstain from food which his ordinances declared un-
clean. The practice of the rite of circumcision, a rite
pronounced by the rabbi more meritorious than all
others, and enjoined by the Talmud, brought with it
confiscation and death. The ancient national records
the books of the Law, the chronicles of bygone
dynasties, the treatises of Hebrew physicians alreadj^
prominent in the world of science were diligently
sought for and destroyed. Every effort was made to
separate wives from their husbands and slaves from
their masters, by the edict that the ceremony of bap-
tism, when solicited by consort or bondsman, produced,
according to circumstances, ipso facto, divorce or
emancipation. All Jews were enrolled upon the
public registers, and at stated times were mustered
by the bishop. They were also required to report
to the magistrate at every town they visited, to be
examined as to their business and destination. The
Seventeenth Council of Toledo, by a sweeping decree,
seized the property of all the Jews in the kingdom and
sentenced its owners, without exception, to absolute
servitude. They were accused of practices alike re-
volting to humanity and subversive of morals, of
poisoning the sacramental elements, of the torture of
children, of crimes against nature, of cannibalism.
The ecclesiastical denunciations of offences concern-
ing religion, such as the blasphemy of images and
relics, the ridicule of orthodox tenets, the promulga-
tion of the doctrines of the Talmud, and the soliciting
of proselytes, were not less violent than those which
reprobated the greatest enormities of which human
frailty is susceptible. Every rank of society vied with
the others in manifestations of hostihty towards the
Moorish Empire in Europe 117
despised race. The monarch, upon frivolous pretexts,
confiscated their property and abandoned them to the
violence of the populace. In the eyes of the ferocious
noble, who scarcely acknowledged the superior dig-
nity of his king, they were sources of wealth to be
utilized as occasion or inclination demanded; and the
levy of an excessive contribution was regarded as an
act of especial leniency, when the last ducat might
have been exacted with impunity. The Church never
failed to pour out upon these victims of prejudice
the full measure of ecclesiastical oppression and
hatred, and no deed was more meritorious than the
persecution of a Jew. But it was with the lower
orders that the unfortunate Children of Israel fared
the worst. Their wealth aroused the basest passions
of the ignorant and fanatical rabble. To the malice
incited by poverty and envy was added the animosity
engendered by religious prejudice, which found ex-
pression in every kind of maltreatment and outrage.
Although necessary to the state and indispensable to
its political and financial prosperity, the Jew was pre-
cluded from claiming the protection of the very laws
he assisted to administer. Deprived of this unques-
tionable right, he was unfitted by his constitution, his
habits, and his traditions for armed resistance. Cen-
turies of oppression had taught him to rely on pacific
rather than on violent measures for the discomfiture
of his enemies. None understood more thoroughly
than he the secret springs of action which control the
movements of mankind ; and with its worst and most
degrading characteristics, his experience, reaching
through many troubled generations, had rendered him
especially familiar. His practical and thorough ac-
quaintance with every foible of human nature thus
made him equal to the exigencies of every occasion.
He dispensed his gold with unstinted liberality. Pow-
erful nobles, everywhere, were in his pay. Ecclesi-
118 History of the
astics of eminent talents and reputed sanctity were
not ashamed to accept his gifts, and, in return, to
secretly and effectually protect his person and his in-
terests. No efforts were spared to impress the sover-
eign with the extent of his attainments and the value
of his services. The people, despite their prejudices,
looked with awe and respect upon the members of a
race who had visited lands whose very names were
unknown to them, who conversed fluently in strange
and guttural tongues, and who spread before their
wondering and delighted eyes precious articles of
merchandise of whose existence they had hitherto re-
mained in ignorance.
Under such circumstances, however disadvanta-
geous, the Jews, scattered throughout the countries
of Europe, maintained from century to century the
integrity of their social and religious organization.
Their isolation was in many respects productive of
personal safety and financial benefit. Exempted by
their civil disabilities from exposure to the dangers of
revolution, they escaped the penalties of unsuccessful
treason and profited by the necessities of every fac-
tion. They alone of all classes flourished amidst the
perils of internal disorder. By the liberal and judi-
cious employment of money, they secured the favor
of the party for the moment in power. Meanwhile
the commerce of every country was almost exclu-
sively under their control. No competition, of any
importance, interposed to diminish their enormous
profits. There was not a city, scarcely a hamlet, where
the Hebrew was not sure of sympathy and assistance
from his countrymen. With them his goods were
secure. They afforded him valuable information.
Their experience enabled him to obtain the highest
prices for his wares, and the secret intelligence at their
disposal gave him timely warning of the presence of
danger and facilitated his escape. His cosmopolitan
Moorish Empire in Europe 119
habits prevented national affiliations, and permitted
him to immediately change his residence whenever it
was required by personal considerations or commercial
interests. He bought amber on the Baltic. He sold
slaves in Constantinople. He exchanged the com-
modities of Spain for the furs of Russia and the
pearls and incense of Yemen. In France he found
a profitable market for jewels, spices, and cochineal.
His intimate and extensive relations with the grreat
emporiums of the Orient were one of the most im-
portant factors of his success. In that quarter of
the world, enjoying the protection and confidence of
the rulers of Persia, Babylonia, Syria, and Egypt,
were to be found the most powerful and wealthy com-
munities of the Hebrew nation. The omnipresent
Jew had established a chain of trading stations across
every continent, and even far beyond the most distant
limits of civilization. This immense advantage was
his alone ; no competitor possessed, or could ever hope
to obtain, such extraordinary mercantile facilities.
From the depths of the mysterious East came the rare
products which commanded fabulous prices in the
European capitals, costly tissues, gems, dyes, aro-
matics, porcelain, articles which often brought far
more than their weight in gold. The monopoly en-
joyed by the shrewd importers enabled them to receive
for their commodities sums which far exceeded their
intrinsic value, and placed them beyond the reach of
any excepting the most opulent.
But the enterprise of the Jew was not confined to
the importation and distribution of luxuries. He
furnished society with every species of merchandise,
from the crown of the monarch to the sandals of the
beggar. The law forbade him to be seated by an
ecclesiastic without the latter' s invitation, but the
bishop was compelled to purchase of him the sacer-
dotal vestments in which his race was anathematized;
120 History of the
and the sacred furniture of the altar, including even
the crucifix, the significant emblem of the Passion, was
sold to the cathedral chapter by the descendants of
those who had enacted the tragedy of Golgotha, and
had trafficked in the bodv and blood of our Saviour.
The Jews of Provence paid their tribute to the Church
in wax, and provided the tapers used in the ceremonies
of great religious festivals. The vessels destined for
the celebration of the mass were frequently disposed
of to Jewish merchants by dishonest custodians;
and this sacrilegious trade became at one time so
notorious and shameless in France as to call forth the
indignant denunciation of the Holy See. The pawn-
ing of objects consecrated to Christian worship for
loans ostensibly contracted for the benefit of the
Church was one of the most flagrant abuses of eccle-
siastical authority in mediaeval times. These pledges,
often forfeited, became the property of the lender,
and the clergy were constantly subjected to the scandal
arising from their exposure for sale in the shops and
public markets. It was no unusual circumstance in
those days for the greater part of the sacred plate of
an entire diocese to be temporarily in the hands of
Jewish usurers. It was, moreover, a matter of com-
mon notoriety that the families of wealthy Jewish
brokers daily drank from golden chalices in which once
had been offered the holy sacramental wine of the
mass.
The confidence reposed by all classes in the He-
brews, despite the universal and ineradicable preju-
dice entertained against their nationality, affords un-
deniable proof of their integrity. Their financial
capacity and experience procured for them the office
of receiver of royal taxes in countries where public
sentiment was absolutely opposed to their toleration.
Their fitness for this important and responsible post
was emphasized not only by their abilities, but by the
Moorish Empire in Europe 121
fact that their prosperous circumstances were, in a
measure, a guaranty of their honesty, their wealth
removing the principal incentive to peculation. The
most bigoted Christians eagerly sought their services
in the management of property and the settlement of
estates; and to their sagacity and v^^isdom was fre-
quently committed the solution of the difficult prob-
lems relating to the methods of taxation and enforced
contribution adopted by both the Crown and the
Church. During the Middle Ages, every court in
Europe patronized the Hebrew physician. His prac-
tice, while by no means free from the prevailing char-
latanism of the time, embodied many principles of
the healing art still recognized as sound, and repre-
sented all that was then known of medical science.
In literary culture, as in commercial ability and
scientific acquirements, the mediaeval Jew of Christian
Europe had no rivals. It was an extraordinary cir-
cumstance when a sovereign could even read, in an
age when one of the greatest princes in Europe was
invested with the title of Beauclerc because he could
write his own name legibly, a remarkable distinction in
an era of almost universal ignorance. Such accom-
plishments, when they did exist in any community,
were almost entirely confined to the clerical profes-
sion, and, even among its members, were far from
being generally diffused. The officiating priest had,
ordinarily, sufficient education to enable him to
stumble through the pages of his missal. In the mo-
nastic establishments, where the opportunity afforded
by solitude and leisure permitted, and even encour-
aged, the cultivation of letters, the talents of able
men were too often wasted in frivolous and unprofit-
able pursuits. While such unpromising conditions
prevailed among the higher classes, the state of the
populace was incredibly degraded. The latter natu-
rally looked to its spiritual advisers for instruction and
122 History of the
guidance, and the evil influence of the Church was
everywhere significantly disclosed by the crowds of
stupid and fanatical devotees who listened with awe
and rapture to the incoherent harangues of monkish
zealots, or, bowed upon their faces, grovelled in the
mire before the idolatrous shrine of some spurious
saint.
In the midst of the darkness which obscured the
face of the mediaeval world, Hebrew learning emitted
a small but brilliant ray of light. Priestly tyranny
and popular odium prevented the regeneration of the
masses, which, under different auspices, might readily
have been accomplished. The erudition of the early
rabbis, remarkable even at the present time, was, in
the age in which they flourished, absolutely phenome-
nal. Their superior intelligence and extensive ac-
quirements caused them to be universally branded as
wizards and enchanters. Men shunned all intercourse
with them, and even feared to encountei' them upon
the highways. ~No greater tribute could be paid to
their knowledge and ability than the ecclesiastical de-
crees launched against the Jews at the very time when
their talents were employed in directing the financial
affairs of the Church. In spite of his indispensable
usefulness to government and society, the proscribed
Hebrew was always under the ban of the law and
lived in a state of constant apprehension. Princes
claimed and exercised the privilege of absolute owner-
ship of all the Jews and their property in their do-
minions. Even such an enlightened sovereign as the
Emperor Frederick II. published a sweeping edict
reducing the Jews of his realms to servitude, and
declaring their wealth forfeited to the state. In Eng-
land, near the end of the thirteenth century, every
Jew in the kingdom was arrested and held in durance
until a ransom of twelve thousand pounds had been
extorted. Three years afterwards all their property
Moorish Empire in Europe 123
was taken, and they were expelled from the country.
The bishop often received, as a token of royal esteem,
the present of the Jews of his diocese. This singular
prerogative, which was neither based upon prescriptive
custom, former enslavement, nor any claim excepting
that of force, was first exerted in France; and the
enormous profits resulting from its application led to
its general adoption by all the Christian sovereigns of
Europe. The Jew, by the stringent restrictions of
savage laws, was degraded below the level of hu-
manity. The owner of a beast was entitled to fixed
legal compensation for its death, but no penalty was
enacted and no damages could be claimed for the
murder of a Jew. If maltreated, no evidence could
be received against his assailant. The Jews of Tou-
louse, who, tradition declared, had surrendered the
city to the Moors, were condemned each year on that
anniversary to furnish one of their number to receive
a box on the ear at the cathedral door. One of the
oldest and most respectable of the community was
always selected; the blow was usually given with a
mailed hand, and the victim not infrequently died
from the effects of it. During Passion Week, the
active persecution of the accursed sect was considered
so meritorious as to be almost equivalent to the per-
formance of a religious duty. At that time no He-
brew could appear in the street without endangering
his life. On Good Friday, in the year 1016, an earth-
quake destroyed many of the houses in Rome. Pope
Benedict VIII., having learned that at the time of its
occurrence the Jews were worshipping in their syna-
gogue, and attributing the catastrophe to their influ-
ence, caused a great number to be massacred. At all
times they were exposed to the contumely of adults
and the petty persecutions of children. The isolated
quarter in every community, to which their residence
was restricted, and separated from the dwellings of
124 History of the
orthodox Christians to prevent contamination, is to-
day, in nearly all the cities of Europe, still known by
its once distinctive name ; although, in most instances,
its Jewish population has disappeared. It was also a
common pastime of the mob to stone the houses of
the Jews, and, as the latter were not permitted to de-
fend themselves, all large towns resounded with tu-
mult and disorder during the celebration of the most
sacred festival of Christendom. Upon every occasion,
these unfortunates were pursued and baited like wild
animals ; always with the tacit connivance, often with
the open encouragement, of the authorities. Their
intimate relations with the countries of the East
offered substantial grounds for the belief that they
introduced leprosy into France, Spain, and England,
a disease whose general dissemination has ordinarily
been credited to the Crusades, but whose existence in
France as early as the sixth century must be attrib-
uted to some anterior agency. The undoubted Ori-
ental origin of this malady pointed strongly to the
itinerant Jewish merchants as responsible for its ap-
pearance in Western Europe ; while its loathsome and
incurable character tended to increase the popular
odium with which those suspected of infecting a por-
tion of the human race hitherto exempt from this
affliction were universally regarded.
Every precaution which could have a tendency to
maintain the social and domestic ostracism that popu-
lar intolerance had placed upon the Jew was enforced
by civil and ecclesiastical authority. He could not
legally marry a Christian, inlierit real property, hold
slaves. In royal donations, where, without warrant of
right or pretence of ancient custom, he was deprived
of his liberty and his possessions, his person was there-
after attached to the glebe. He was forbidden the
exercise of many of the most j)rofitable mechanical
arts in which he excelled. Christians could not eat
Moorish Empire in Europe 125
or drink with him, visit his house, listen to his conver-
sation, or learn his language. The priesthood con-
sidered the integrity of the doctrines which were at
once the foundation and the instruments of their
power as of far greater importance than the material
comfort and intellectual improvement of their parish-
ioners. They were quick to recognize the peril with
which ecclesiastical institutions would be threatened
if exposed to the logic and sarcasm of Hebrew criti-
cism. The necessities of society could not, as yet, per-
mit the extermination of the Jews, but their practical
isolation was imperatively demanded by considerations
of prudence, and by the just apprehension that the
toleration of social intimacy would eventually result
in the emancipation of the masses from ignorance, and
the consequent disintegration of the Church. The
Dominican and Franciscan Orders were the sworn
enemies of the Jew from the very day of their organi-
zation. The Inquisition was introduced into Spain
for the express purpose of plundering the rich Jews
of Aragon. The efforts of the Papacy were assisted
by the policy of the more bigoted of the rabbis, who
saw, with no less apprehension than their Christian
oppressors, the diffusion of liberal ideas which threat-
ened their own authority and importance. Under such
discouraging conditions had the Jews maintained their
national existence, the purity of their religion, the per-
petuation of their customs, the permanence of their
laws amidst the anarchy, corruption, and intolerance
of mediaeval Europe.
The origin of this strange people is absolutely un-
known. Their roving propensity probably dates from
the very foundation of the race, as the words Hebrew
and pilgrim are derived from the same root. No ques-
tion, however, can exist concerning their Semitic
affiliations. Their geograj)hical distribution was ex-
tensive in very early times. The most ancient coUec-
126 History of the
tion of myths extant describes their migrations. They
were numerous in China during the third century
before Christ. Profoundly superstitious, impHcit be-
Hevers in omens, idolaters while professing mono-
theism, the facile dupes of wizards and magicians,
the simplest phenomena of nature were always, in
their eyes, invested with a mysterious or an astrological
significance. Even their division into tribes has been
traced by Dozy to a cabalistic association with the
twelve signs of the zodiac.
The Israelites are first noticed in history as a horde
of vagabond herdsmen in Mesopotamia. Oppressed
by powerful neighbors, repeatedly enslaved, and re-
duced to those depths of moral degradation incident
only to long-continued servitude, they still succeeded
in preserving inviolate the principles of their religious
and social organization. They were almost univer-
sally considered as outcasts, with whom it was contami-
nation to associate. But in all their adversity their
peculiar theocratic belief confirmed their resolution
and sustained their hopes. They were the Chosen
People of God. His Spirit was ever with them,
speaking through the voices of their teachers, direct-
ing the councils of their rulers, illuminating the Holy
of Holies of the Tabernacle, hovering about the Ark
with its golden cherubim. They had the Divine assur-
ance that one day their troubles would end, that the
scattered members of their race would be again united,
that they would inherit the kingdoms and possess the
riches of the earth. Their arrogant exclusiveness was
unconsciously, but none the less diligently, fostered
by the prejudices and regulations of the countries
within whose borders they fixed their residence. In
each city they were confined to a certain quarter,
within whose precincts Christian men were little dis-
posed, and Christian women absolutely forbidden, to
enter. The use of a distinctive costume, popularly
Moorish Empire in Europe 127
regarded as a badge of ignominy, was imposed upon
them. They were not allowed to marry outside their
sect. The minute and innumerable restrictions of
Hindu caste were not more rigid or vexatious than
those ordinances which regulated the intercourse of
Jew and Christian during the Middle Ages. The en-
forcement of these social distinctions, as well as the
inexorable requirements of the laws, increased the iso-
lation of the Jews in every community. In this man-
ner their unity was preserved, and the extraordinary
vitality which characterized their existence in all its
phases was promoted.
In no part of Europe had their influence exhibited
such constant, marked, and permanent effects as in
the Spanish Peninsula. On its coast, with which
their ancestors had long been familiar, and where
archaeological research has placed the Tarshish of
Holy Writ, the establishment of the Hebrew is of
such high antiquity that history has failed to record
it; and it may not unreasonably be assumed that it
antedated the Christian era by at least a thousand
years. The turbulent and perfidious character of the
Hebrew sectaries caused them to be regarded with
apprehension by the Romans. In the time of Ha-
drian, their old and powerful families were distrib-
uted, as a measure of public safety, among the most
widely separated provinces of the empire. The fact is
well ascertained that the Spanish Jews were rich and
numerous in the fifth century, and then practically
controlled the commerce and the financial resources of
the country. Even at that early period they were
renowned for their intellectual accomplishments, their
extensive literature, their dexterity in the mechanical
employments, the assiduity with which they pursued
the most abstruse branches of science, and their pro-
ficiency in those practical arts which tend to the ame-
lioration of the condition of the human race and the
128 History of the
prolongjation of the term of human hfe. As has been
mentioned in a previous chapter, although occasion-
ally pursued by royal avarice and clerical animosity,
the Jews did not experience in Spain the full effects
of that hatred which seemed to be their unhappy birth-
right until the accession of Reccared, the first orthodox
sovereign of the Visigothic dynasty. From the latter
part of the sixth century, the malice accumulated in
the church and the cloister through ages of alternate
restraint and forbearance w^as unmercifully wreaked
upon them. The Visigothic Code is largely taken up
with the statement of their disabilities, the denun-
ciation of their customs, the enumeration of their
offences, and the description of the penalties to be
inflicted by the avenging magistrate. The paternal
character of the ecclesiastical legislation, then and
long afterwards in the ascendant in the Councils,
scrutinized with jealous vigilance not only the public
actions of the offensive sectaries, but invaded with
brutal violence the sacred privacy of domestic life.
The celebration of all national religious festivals was
prohibited. A Jew could not be a witness against a
Christian ; intermarriage of the two races was declared
null and void, and all issue of such unions were subject
to seizure by the clergy, to be reared and educated
in monastic institutions; circumcision was declared
illegal; and the grotesque cruelty of the law which
enforced the use of pork as food violated without
cause or excuse a rational prejudice of the Jew,
established by Divine command and confirmed by the
unbroken practice of countless generations of his kins-
men. The observance of these savage and unreason-
able regulations was enforced by penalties of corre-
sponding severity. The culprit w^as usually burned
alive ; in cases where it seemed that leniency might be
properly exercised, he was stoned to death. The con-
stant and systematic evasion of these laws, which even
Moorish Empire in Europe 129
priestly malevolence hesitated to enforce, was the con-
sequence of their extreme rigor. Many circumstances
then, as subsequently, intervened to mitigate the con-
dition of the Jews; the necessities of the state, the
jealousy of the nobles, the venal and corrupt disposi-
tion of the clergy, who were often the first to violate
the ordinances which they themselves had been instru-
mental in having enacted, were all enlisted, from time
to time, in securing for the objects of popular hatred
a temporary and precarious indulgence.
Under the Visigothic domination, as a rule, the
policy of the government was decidedly hostile. The
opulent were, as is usual in such cases, considered the
most guilty ; and thousands were seized, despoiled, and
murdered on no other provocation than the evidences
of prosperity and the imprudent and ostentatious ex-
hibition of their wealth. In the Council, which chose
the sovereign, ecclesiasticism always preponderated;
and through its influence a clause was early inserted
in the coronation oath which bound the king to suffer
no other religion but the Roman Catholic in his do-
minions. Powerful protectors, whose services were
purchased by the lavish distribution of bribes, averted
the storm for the time; but about the beginning of
the seventh century public opinion declined to be
longer conciliated, and a frightful persecution was
begun. An immense number, amounting, it is said, to
ninety thousand, apostatized and publicly received the
rite of baptism. Multitudes, who preferred banish-
ment to renunciation of their faith, fled to France,
Italy, and other countries. Such extreme measures
drove the suffering Israelites to resistance, but their
hereditary cowardice and their total want of organiza-
tion rendered their exertions hopeless, and produced
no result but an aggravation of their misfortunes.
While these events were transpiring in the Visi-
gothic kingdom, Mohammedan conquest had spread
Vol. III. 9
130 History of the
from Central Arabia to the western extremity of the
African continent. Before its irresistible force, the
activity of the Berber savage and the discipline of the
Roman veteran had alike been humbled in the dust.
The dangerous proximity of the Moslem outposts at
the south had more than once aroused the apprehen-
sions of the proud and luxurious sovereigns of Spain.
But their efforts had been directed rather to the in-
dulgence of their passions and the extirpation of
heresy than to the fortification of the frontiers of the
kingdom against the ambition of an unknown and
underrated foe. The Jews, however, fully realized
the gravity of the situation, and were only too willing
to promote the designs of an enemy whose success,
they were convinced, would enure to their own advan-
tage and security. Numerous considerations of pro-
found significance impelled them to this course. They
themselves and the Arabs were derived from a com-
mon origin. Both sprang from the same branch of
the great human family. Many of their customs were
identical ; their traditions denote a similar source ; their
languages vary but little in construction and pronun-
ciation, and have been so slightly modified by the vicis-
situdes of centuries that the Hebrew rabbi and the
Bedouin sheik of to-day can readily communicate with
each other by means of their respective idioms. Both
nations had for centuries been accustomed to a pastoral
life on the vast plains of Asia, where the illimitable
monotony of the landscape, the unbroken stillness of
immense solitudes, the magnificent spectacle of the
unclouded heavens glowing with the most gorgeous
constellations of the firmament, have always impressed
upon the nations subject to these potent and omni-
present influences the conviction of the unity of God.
The caravans that issued from the Desert exchanged
the precious commodities of that region for the wares
manufactured and imported by the Hebrews of Alex-
Moorish Empire in Europe 131
andria, Damascus, and Antioch. Although in the
early ages of Islam the Jews were often harshly
treated, the Arabs were quick to perceive the advan-
tages to be obtained from their commercial experience
and literary knowledge. As Hebrew enterprise was
instrumental in opening to the world the lucrative and
important trade of the Arabian Peninsula, so Hebrew
genius disclosed to the descendants of Ishmael the
capacity of their own tongue, which until then had
found no permanent mode of expression. The first
book which appeared in the Arabic language was
written by Javaich, a Syrian Jew. It was the trans-
lation of a medical work by a famous practitioner of
Alexandria, and the practical character of the subject
not only indicates the serious nature of early Hebrew
research, but also becomes a matter of curious signifi-
cance when the subsequent interest and proficiency of
Arab scholars in everything concerning the scientific
acquirements of that profession are considered.
The impulse thus early exerted by Jewish culture
upon the Arab intellect was eventually productive of
the most extraordinary results. The scholars soon
surpassed their instructors in the extent and pro-
fundity of their knowledge. The Arab mind assimi-
lated, with wonderful ease and insatiable avidity, the
useful and valuable information afforded it, while its
critical faculty enabled it to reject what it intuitively
perceived to be spurious. In all the countries subject
to the Khalifates of Mecca and Damascus, the He-
brew opened to the Moslem conqueror the avenues of
literature and science. He was treated by the Moham-
medan princes with far more consideration and justice
than he had ever experienced under Pagan or Chris-
tian domination. His synagogues were erected in the
shadow of Moslem minarets. His academies became
famous as centres of learning. The works of Grecian
philosophers, the fragmentary treasures of Alexan-
132 History of the
drian erudition, were, through his efforts, made famil-
iar to the studious of the great Mohammedan capitals.
In the distribution of literary patronage the Jews
were the most distinguished recipients of royal munifi-
cence. In proportion to the eminence they attained in
the province of letters, their political power and finan-
cial prosperity increased. They enjoyed the familiar
confidence of the monarch, when his favorite coun-
cillors dared not venture without a summons into his
presence. They amassed great fortunes in the various
branches of trade and industry. Their mercantile
occupations brought them frequently in contact with
their fellow-sectaries, who, in other parts of the world,
maintained under the weighty sceptre of cruel and
bigoted sovereigns an existence fraught with danger
and hardship.
These facts were well known to the Spanish Jews
who had, amidst the multiplied catastrophes afflicting
their race, survived the effects of Visigothic tyrannj^
Notwithstanding the successive persecutions of which
they had been the object, they were still numerous in
the Peninsula. The phenomenal vitality of a people
which, from time immemorial, has preserved its integ-
rity under the most adverse conditions, enabled it to
defy the malice of courts and the edicts of councils
whose office and pastime was the pitiless extirpation
of heresy. The Jews flourished in defiance of blood-
thirsty laws. In many ways they evaded the effects
of proscription. Thousands apostatized. Multitudes
secretly purchased immunity by means of the arts of
corruption. Of those who had gone into exile, the
majority quickly returned and took up their residence
in other provinces, where, unknown to the populace,
and often with the venal connivance of civil officials
and prelates, they were permitted to pursue their avo-
cations in comparative security. The Israelitish ele-
ment was so preponderant in Toledo, Lucena, and
Moorish Empire in Europe 133
Granada, at the time of the Moorish invasion, that
they were known as Jewish cities. This large popu-
lation formed a separate state, an iinperium in im-
perio, whose members, exasperated by the memory of
intolerable suffering and sustained by the hope of
retribution, were ready to embrace the first oppor-
tunity to avenge the oppression of centuries. Thus
the fatal policy of the Visigoths weak, violent, and
corrupt had introduced an organized, powerful, un-
scrupulous, and vindictive enemy into every province
and city of their tottering empire. With their Afri-
can brethren the Jews of Spain maintained an inti-
mate and frequent correspondence. Numbers of the
latter had sought a refuge beyond the sea, as their
descendants did, under similar circumstances, seven
centuries afterwards. The settlements of the Mauri-
tanian coast swarmed with indigenous or exiled He-
brews, attracted thither by the superior facilities they
offered to commercial pursuits. All of these shrewd
and intelligent traders were perfectly familiar with
the condition of the Visigothic monarchy; with its
apparent splendor and actual decay; with the politi-
cal and social disorganization pervading every depart-
ment of the state and every rank of society ; with the
tyranny of the King; with the universal disaffection
of the nobles ; with the grasping avarice of the clergy,
whose exactions spared neither the plenty of the rich
nor the starving wretchedness of the poor; with the
weakness of the army, whose soldiers, subsisting by
pillage, had neither weapons to arm nor officers to
command them; with the abject misery of the people,
who, protected by none and plundered by all, insecure
in the pursuit of every employment, a constant prey
to licensed brigandage, with no recollection of the past
but the bitter reminiscence of unprovoked and re-
peated injury, with no hope of the future save in the
intervention of a more powerful, perhaps a more
134 History of the
ruthless, oppressor, were certain of tranquillity only
in the silence and oblivion of the grave.
The advent of Moslem supremacy, which promised
a new and splendid career to the down-trodden race,
was welcomed by the Jews of Africa with all the
enthusiasm of an impulsive and excitable people.
Al-Maghreb had scarcely been conquered before the
Moslem generals were more conversant with the de-
tails of Visigothic weakness and demoralization than
the councillors of Roderick himself. The minute and
secret ramifications of Jewish society united in a
common cause the widely distributed communities of
Africa and Spain; the intelligence and resolution of
the conspirators, whose hostility was increased by the
bitterness of sectarian hatred, rendered their enterprise
and activity the more dangerous; and a propitious
opportunity alone was awaited to pour upon the fer-
tile and defenceless plains of the Peninsula the resist-
less torrent of Moslem invasion. That opportunity
soon arrived. The fortress of Ceuta, lost by treason,
fell into the hands of the Arabs ; the Visigothic power,
crushed in one great battle, succumbed to the superior
valor of an enterprising enemy ; and within the short
period of fourteen months the sceptre of empire
passed from the feeble hands of a barbarian dynasty
to the control of a foreign race, whose mental capacity
and intellectual ambition, as yet untried, were sub-
sequently found to be equal to the most exacting de-
mands of a refined and highly developed civilization.
In these events, whose consequences produced such
radical modifications in the religious, political, and
domestic conditions of European society, Hebrew
energy and craft were eminently conspicuous. One
of the principal divisions of Tarik's army was com-
manded by a Jew. During the invasion, Jewish guides
conducted the JMoslem squadrons along the highways
of an unknown country, furnished information of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 135
enemy's movements, disclosed the whereabouts of mih-
tary supplies and hidden wealth. When the slender
numbers of the Arab forces would not admit of their
diminution for garrison duty, the Jews volunteered
their services to defend the conquered cities and faith-
fully discharged the important trust. The obligations
thus incurred by the Moorish invaders to their allies
were of the most important character. The latter not
only facilitated an enterprise whose difficulty, without
their co-operation, would have been enormously in-
creased, if not actually rendered impracticable, but,
the country once subdued, they directed the atten-
tion of the Arabs to elegant pursuits, of whose nature
and value they had hitherto remained in ignorance.
Moslem civilization in Europe owed an incalculable
debt of gratitude to the Jews. They were its real
founders. They inculcated a taste for letters. They
promoted the investigations of science, the develop-
ment of industry and the arts. Their refined tastes
and intellectual employments aroused a noble emu-
lation in the minds of their pupils and imitators, which,
in turn, reacted upon their own talents and aspirations.
Hebrew genius and ambition were no longer hampered
by the malicious interference of royal councils and
ecclesiastical synods. The Jewish merchant and the
Jewish banker pursued their way to opulence and
distinction, unmolested by the extortionate demands
of corrupt officials and tyrannical farmers of the
revenue. Their scholars were not insensible to the
advantages to be derived from the study of ancient
learning, and the Greek and Latin classics were thor-
oughly familiar to the Spanish Jew, whose com-
mentaries upon them were of considerable extent and
of unquestionable authority.
Under a government favorable to their existence
and prosperity, their numbers rapidly increased. The
depopulation resulting from the conquest of an
138 History of the
already impoverished and exliausted territorj'' required
an extraordinary and immediate remedy. Publica-
tion was everywhere made throughout the Orient
inviting the settlement of immigrants in Spain.
Lands and houses were promised to all who were
willing to change their domiciles for new homes in
the distant and recently founded Mohammedan em-
pire. In the multitude that responded were, it is said,
fifty thousand Hebrew families, amounting to not less
than a quarter of a million individuals. These, with
their fellow-sectaries already established in the Penin-
sula, composed a most important element of its popu-
lation. Highly favorable social and domestic condi-
tions, among which must be considered the prevalent
institution of polygamy, caused in after years a pro-
digious multiplication of the race. The colonists
brought with them the devotion to learning which
they had imbibed in the presence of the great me-
morials of ancient civilization on the banks of the
Nile and the Euphrates, and many volumes of native
and foreign lore which were destined to form the
nucleus of the magnificent libraries of Moorish Spain.
History has repeatedly mentioned the tireless assiduity
with which the Jews, secure and tranquil under the
tolerant administration of the klialifs, devoted them-
selves to the cultivation of letters. Their diligence
was only exceeded by the marvellous proficiency they
attained in every branch of useful knowledge. They
mastered with ease the most abstruse and perplexing
mathematical problems. The rabbis were great lin-
guists; there were few of them not thoroughly con-
versant with the numerous idioms of Europe and
Asia. Medicine and astronomy, their favorite pur-
suits, under their direction soon acquired an unprece-
dented, almost a magical, development.
The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries represent
the epoch of the greatest fame and influence of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 137
Spanish Jews. This period, coincident with the high-
est power and civihzation of the Hispano-Arab em-
pire, had, however, been preceded by two centuries of
uninterrupted progress. The enhghtened pohcy of
the Western khahfs, from the accession of the Om-
meyade dynasty, attracted to their capital the learned
of every country and of every profession. Of these
strangers, the Hebrews constituted the largest pro-
portion of any one race, excepting the Arabs. The
schools and academies they founded vied in educa-
tional opportunities and literary culture with the Mos-
lem institutions of similar character whose reputation
was unrivalled in the world. The interpretations of
the Scriptures and the Talmud, as promulgated by
the synagogues of Toledo and Cordova, were acknowl-
edged everywhere as of the highest and most binding
authority. A constant and profitable intercourse was
maintained with their kinsmen of the Orient, which
promoted an interchange of ideas, and was conse-
quently of incalculable advantage to the mental de-
velopment of both divisions of the race. The intel-
lectual supremacy of the Spanish Jew was, however,
rarely disputed. The opportunities he enjoyed in the
society of the most splendid of mediaeval capitals ; the
vast stores of information at his disposal; the great
libraries collected by the klialif s to which he had access ;
the permanent distinction which awaited successful
competition in the public contests for literary prece-
dence; the favor of the sovereign, often himself a
scholar of great erudition and varied accomplishments,
always a liberal patron of science and the arts; the
applause of the multitude; the substantial pecuniary
benefits which promised a life of ease and opulence to
all whose abilities were sufficiently eminent to merit
public recognition and recompense; with these mani-
fold privileges and incentives it is not singular that
Hebrew genius obtained and preserved an exalted
138 History of the
rank in the literary society of the age. Encouraged
by the influence which they wielded, and presuming
upon the favor of a liberal and indulgent sovereign,
the Jews of the Moorish empire formed an organiza-
tion modelled after the institutions of their ancestors
which could scarcely have been tolerated under a severe
and jealous despotism. They elected as their king a
prince of the house of Judah, who, while not openly
invested with the insignia of royalty, received the
homage and the tribute of his subjects. Under this
potentate judges and priests were chosen, who exer-
cised the functions performed centuries before in the
days of the independence and renown of the Hebrew
nation. The Moors countenanced, and even approved
of, the establishment of this anomalous system. Its
officials, despite their grandiloquent titles, were strictly
subordinated to the authority of the khalifate. Thej'"
were suffered, however, to administer the affairs of
those who acknowledged their jurisdiction; their de-
cisions in theological matters limited to their faith
were unquestioned; and they were intrusted with the
collection of taxes, whose amount and apportionment
had been previously determined by the regular officers
of the imperial treasury.
The eminently practical character of the Jewish
mind did not confine itself to speculations upon the
traditions of the Talmud or disquisitions concerning
abstruse points of philosophy. The Hebrew sages
embraced with the greatest ardor the fascinating pur-
suits of mechanical invention and scientific discovery.
In medicine and surgery they particularly excelled.
They wrote treatises on the application of hydraulics
and the comparative merits of various systems of irri-
gation. They thoroughly understood the principles
of horticulture. The excellence of the manufactures
for which the Khalifate of Cordova was famous was,
to a considerable extent, indebted to Jewish talents
Moorish Empike in Europe 139
and industry. In many instances the nationality of
Hebrew scholars was obscured through the similarity
of their names and occupations to those of their dis-
tinguished associates in the great Moslem centres of
learning. Many Jewish doctors received Arab appel-
lations and wrote almost exclusively in the Arabic
language. Among these v/as Ibn-Zohr, who, for these
reasons, has been generally considered a Mohamme-
dan, but whose parentage, religion, associations, and
education were entirely Hebrew.
The tenth century witnessed the culmination of
Jewish greatness in Europe. In its rapid advance-
ment, it had kept pace with the ever-progressive march
of Moslem power and culture. Wherever the Sara-
cens established themselves, the Jewish population in-
creased. The harmonious co-operation of the two
races one of which, while nominally tributary to and
dependent upon the other, was in reality upon a foot-
ing of friendly intimacy with its acknowledged supe-
rior proved of immense advantage to both, in the
promotion of every measure which could enure to the
substantial benefit of humanity. In the consideration
which they enjoyed, and in the prosperity and dis-
tinction which were the reward of intelligent and use-
ful effort, the Jews lost the memory of the calamities
which had been their lot for so many centuries. In
common with all peoples who have attained the highest
civilization, they abandoned themselves to luxury.
The men were clothed in the richest of silken fabrics.
The jewels of the women equalled in brilliancy and
value the choicest treasures of the imperial harems.
The great Hebrew functionaries of state, who pos-
sessed the confidence of the sovereign, appeared in
public, guarded by retinues of armed and magnifi-
cently attired eunuchs. Their mansions exhibited all
the luxurious appointments of the fastidious sybarite.
The Rabbi Hasdai-ben-Schaprut was one of the prin-
140 History of the
cipal ministers of Abii-al-Rahman III. Al-Hakem
II. enlisted the services of Jewish ambassadors in
important embassies. Hischem II. ordered a transla-
tion of the Talmud to be made into Arabic, and caused
its literature to be introduced as a branch of study in
the Moslem colleges. The educated Moors treated
with the greatest honor and respect the princes and
officials of the hierarchy chosen by the assemblies of
the Synagogue. The beginning of the tenth century
witnessed the destruction of the renowned academies
of Persia, whose members, by the promulgation of
liberal doctrines, had rendered themselves obnoxious
to Oriental despotism. Their societies dissolved, these
learned men were forced to seek security in exile.
Some of the most famous, including the Rabbi Moses,
of the Academy of Pumbedita, were taken by African
corsairs and exposed for sale in the slave-market of
Cordova. Such was the eminent reputation of this
doctor, that, as soon as his identity was disclosed, he
was unanimously elected prince of the Hispano-He-
brew nation.
These Oriental scholars were not the only exiles who
enriched the universities of Spain with their accumu-
lated stores of wisdom. From every country where
the hand of persecution was raised against the Jew
refugees flocked by thousands into the Peninsula, until
the Ommeyade khalif included among his subjects a
larger proportion of the people of this race than any
other sovereign of the age. The list of rabbis who
illuminated with their genius and learning the reign
of the Cordovan princes is both instructive and inter-
esting, especially when we consider the benighted con-
dition of contemporaneous Europe. In France, dur-
ing the ninth century, a Christian bishop declared the
rabbis preached better than the priests.
The active minds of these gifted scholars enabled
them to master at the same time the most complicated
Moorish Empire in Europe 141
problems of widely different branches of scientific
knowledge. The difficulty and novelty of the subject
were always the strongest incentives to their industry.
The study of jurisprudence enjoined by their law, as
a religious duty, was always entered upon in the be-
ginning of their literary career, no matter to what pro-
fessions they were subsequently to be devoted. Rabbi
Hasdai-ben-Schaprut wrote a commentary on the bo-
tanical treatise of Dioscorides, of which he had made
an Ai*abic version; Rabbi Judah, who lived under
Abd-al-Rahman III., was renowned for his acquaint-
ance with both Hebrew and Arabic literature ; Joseph
translated the Talmud for Hischem II.; Manasseh-
ben-Baruch compiled a critical lexicon, a colossal
monument of patience and erudition. To Isaac-ben-
Chanan is ascribed the rendering into classic Hebrew
of the complete works of Aristotle. Isaac Alphes
codified the laws of the Talmud; Samuel-ben-Alarif,
the minister of Habus, King of Granada, renowned
alike as statesman, astronomer, and poet, composed a
panegyric of his sovereign in seven languages. Moses-
ben-Ezra wrote poems which disclose instructive scenes
of mediaeval life and manners ; the grammatical works
of Judas-ben-David were recognized as authoritative
wherever the Hebrew tongue was spoken ; Isaac-ben-
Baruch was one of the most learned and accomplished
mathematicians of his time. In addition to these
names, famous in the history of letters, the Hebrew
community of Spain included poets like Judas Levi,
whose works, translated into Arabic and Latin, ob-
tained a wide and deserved popularity; astronomers
like Ben-Chia; geographers like Isaac Latef ; physi-
cians like Charizi; travellers like Benjamin of Tudela,
whose writings may still be perused with pleasure and
advantage; natural philosophers like Solomon-ben-
Gabirol, who had the rare faculty of clothing scientific
conceptions in poetical language; universal geniuses
142 History of the
like Moses-ben-Maimon and Ben-Ezra, whose talents
illustrated and embellished every subject within the
realm of human knowledge. Not less noted were the
Jewish physicians, who did not, however, exist as a
distinctive profession, their commanding abilities
being also displayed in other departments of litera-
ture and science.
Most prominent among the names which immortal-
ize the golden age of Hebrew erudition is that of
Moses-ben-Maimon, popularly known as Maimonides.
A native of Cordova, and sprung from a family which
had furnished many learned and distinguished mem-
bers of the Jewish hierarchy, he enjoyed from his
earliest youth the unrivalled educational advantages
of the great Moslem capital. His mind was formed
and his tastes developed under the most able in-
structors of the University of Cordova, and it has
even been stated, upon disputed authority, however,
that he was the pupil and friend of the famous phi-
losopher Averroes. The profession of medicine which
he adopted, and in which he afterwards so greatly ex-
celled, he regarded rather as an instrument with which
to observe the secret characteristics and incentives of
human nature than as a means of livelihood. At the
age of thirty, his reputation for prodigious erudition
had spread far beyond the limits of the Moslem em-
pire of the West. The fanatical policy of Abd-al-
Mumen, founder of the Almohade dynasty, demanded
the conversion of the Jews ; thousands, under the fear
of death, renounced their religion, and among them
was Maimonides, whose resolution was not proof
against the prospective sufferings of martyrdom.
Escaping soon after to Egypt, where his renown had
preceded his arrival, he became the friend and adviser
of the Sultan. It is said that whenever he left his
house he was compelled to pass through lines of
people, some of whom desired his opinion on meta-
Moorish Empire in Europe 143
physical questions, and others, who were afflicted with
various aiknents, that sought the aid of his medical
knowledge. Such was his devotion to his profession,
that in the care of his patients he deprived himself of
sleep, and many times fainted from sheer exhaustion.
In the midst of his arduous duties he found time for
the composition of many voluminous treatises, on
biblical and rabbinical literature; on the action of
remedies; on the duties and responsibilities of man as
inculcated by the higher philosophy. His principal
work, More-Hanebushim, " The Guide of Lost
Spirits," is one of the masterpieces of Hebrew
literature. The learning it displays, the profound
knowledge of mankind it reveals, the originality of
its conceptions, the ingenuity and logical force of the
argument, the sublime moral maxims it inculcates,
and the elegance and beauty of the style, owing little
to the native harshness of the idiom in which it is
written, stamp it as one of the most remarkable pro-
ductions of the human mind. The genius of this
great writer regarded as diversions undertakings
which would have appeared formidable tasks to men
of inferior capacity. His medical works, fourteen
in number, and especially his learned commentary on
Hippocrates, were long the guide of the profession,
and to this day many of his precepts for the treatment
of disease are employed by the intelligent practitioner.
He was one of the first to recognize that mental de-
rangement is often the result of physical indisposition.
Maimonides was more familiar with the doctrines of
Christian theology than the majority of the prelates
whose duty it was to inculcate them. His understand-
ing rejected with contempt the alluring and prevalent
delusions of the age, which too frequently contami-
nated the wisdom of the scholar with the mummeries
of the impostor. His condemnation of judicial astrol-
ogy, in which he exposed by irrefutable arguments the
144 History of the
absurdities and dangers of that puerile but fascinating
science, was adoj)ted and promulgated as authoritative
by both Popes Sixtus V. and Urban VIII. While he
criticised with uncompromising severity the faults of
his sect and the weakness and inconsistency of many
of its traditions, Maimonides never intentionally
swerved from the path of orthodox Judaism. His
surroundings and associations were, however, on the
whole not favorable to the maintenance of archaic
theological systems. The intellectual society of Cor-
dova was deeply infected with infidelity. The in-
structors of youth, the professors of the University,
were disciples of Averroes. Religious commentary
had long been supplanted by philosophical skepticism.
Even the populace, always the last to abandon the
obsolete opinions of theological infancy, were imbued
with the same iconoclastic ideas. The sublime concep-
tions of India, the doctrine of Emanation and Ab-
sorption, had been largely adopted by the educated
communities of JMoorish Spain. The exposure of the
Hebrew dogmas to the mocking and sarcastic raillery
of his learned companions produced no effect upon
the faith of Maimonides. His principles were too
firmly grounded to be shaken by the jeers of polished
atheism. While his progressive ideas caused him to
be for a time regarded with suspicion by the stricter
of the Hebrews, they eventually contended with each
other in paying tribute to his lofty genius, and in
their extravagant admiration styled him " The Eagle
of Jewish Literature," " The Guide of the Rabbis,"
" The Light of the Occident." The liberal character
of his doctrines may be inferred from the following
passage taken from the preface to his works: " The
end of religion is to conduct us to perfection, and to
teach us to act and think in conformity with reason.
In this consists the distinctive attribute of human
nature."
Moorish Empire in Europe 145
Maimonides was one of the most eminent person-
ages of his time. No writer of his nationahty ever
attained to such an exalted rank, even among those
who dissented from his opinions. The kindness of his
disposition was not less remarkable than the extent
of his intellectual acquirements. Although a born
polemic and controversialist, he never voluntarily
wounded the feelings of an adversary. The object
of his investigations was invariably the discovery of
truth. His learning, his critical acumen, his quick-
ness of perception, his accuracy of judgment, his
talent for argument, were unrivalled. His system
aimed at the reconciliation of revealed maxims and
scientific deductions; at the co-ordination of Biblical
and Talmudical ideas with the principles of ancient
wisdom and contemporaneous philosophj^. Such a
task was beyond even his great abilities. The studies
of the infidel schools of Spain had, unconsciously to
himself, affected his religious belief. The instruc-
tions of Averroes were not conducive to the exist-
ence of rigid Judaism. Maimonides was, in fact, a
pantheist. Throughout his writings, despite their
mysticism, the doctrine of Emanation is everywhere
prominent. He refers to successive spheres born of
Divine thought. He considers the absorption of the
souls of the good into the Divine Essence. While
admitting the indestructibility of force, he rejects the
idea of the eternity of matter. With him, as with the
majority of scholars who had been educated under
Arabic auspices, the authority of Aristotle was para-
mount. His works, while professedly written to eluci-
date and confirm the Talmud, really undermined it.
His Mischne Thora and Commentaiy on the JMischna
are prodigies of dialectical skill and varied erudition.
In the first of these, a religious code, ten years of
constant labor were expended.
The life of Maimonides was an eventful period in
Vol. III. 10
146 History of the
the history of his race. Then it reached the highest
point of intellectual distinction, but among its sages
none ranked with the distinguished rabbi. In addition
to his vast stores of universal laiowledge, he had
profited by the practical benefits of travel. He had
visited Fez, Montpellier, Cairo, Bagdad, Jerusalem.
He was the court physician of Saladin. He refused
a similar employment tendered by Richard I., King
of England. He was raised to the important office
of Chief Rabbi of all the Hebrew communities of
Egypt. From the East and West, his countrymen
sought his opinion on abstruse questions of religion
and philosophical doctrine, and accepted his answers
as infallible. His influence was by no means confined
to members of his own sect. His works, translated
into Latin, were diligently studied by Christian po-
lemics, and furnished arguments to successive genera-
tions of schoolmen. Diffused throughout the South
of France, their rationalist opinions played no small
part in the promotion of the Albigensian heresy.
But while the intellectual supremacy of Maimo-
nides placed him far in advance of his contemporaries,
he was by no means the only distinguished scholar of
his epoch. Ben-Ezra, equally proficient in the depart-
ments of medicine, literature, and astronomy, enjoyed
a reputation second only to that of the Greatest of
the Hebrews. His inquisitive mind, stimulated by
years of assiduous application, sought in the scenes
of foreign lands the valuable experience and intimate
acquaintance with human life which are not to be ob-
tained by the perusal of books alone. The remarkable
abilities of Ben-Ezra were exercised alike in the solu-
tion of mathematical problems and in the composi-
tion of sacred poems. In his knowledge of astron-
omy, he surpassed the most accurate observers of an
age especialy devoted to the cultivation of the grand-
est and most fascinating of sciences. In his moments
Moorish Empire in Europe 147
of mental relaxation he embodied in verse the rules of
the game of chess; and the preface to this poem, in
which the reader is warned against the evils of cards
and dice, proves conclusively that gaming implements
supposed to have been invented hundreds of years
afterwards were familiar to the Spanish Jews and
Moors in the early part of the thirteenth century.
Not unworthy rivals of Ben-Ezra in the contest for
literary precedence were Nachmanides, who at the age
of sixteen was the honored associate of the most
learned of the Jewish nation, and whose precocious
maturity acquired for him in early manhood the title
of Abu-Harushma, " The Father of Wisdom;" Jo-
seph Hadain, whose charming verses were the delight
of the people of Cordova ; Solomon-ben-Gabirol, and
Abraham-ben-David-Halevi, distinguished philoso-
phers, in whose writings were illustrated the principles
of theological reform and independent criticism de-
manded by the bold and progressive spirit of the age.
Among the Jews of Spain were also many original
poets, fabulists, and writers of romance. Such were
the most eminent scholars whose attainments reflected
honor on the Hebrew name, under the beneficent rule
of the Moslem princes of the West, an era coincident
with the darkest period of European history. Be-
sides these there were others in every community,
some of rabbinical rank, some of humble station, with
talents that elsewhere would have raised them far
above mediocrity, but who were obscured and over-
whelmed in the dazzling glare of literary excellence.
The commercial prosperity of the Jews; the univer-
sality of education, whose institutions afforded facili-
ties nowhere else attainable in the world; the natu-
rally inquisitive bent of the Hebrew mind, whose
acuteness seemed capable of solving questions when
all others had failed, and whose versatility was equal
to the most varied and arduous undertakings; the
148 History of the
superhuman industry which shrank from no task,
however difficult; the consideration with which they
were treated by sovereign and plebeian alike, gave full
scope to the capabilities of a race of men who never
previously, even in the days of Judea's splendor, had
been afforded such opportunities for development.
The generous emulation provoked by the intellectual
eif orts of their Saracen rivals was exerted by the Jews
in every branch of learning and every department of
scientific research. Through the literary productions
of these two nations alone was the way of knowledge
accessible. A thorough acquaintance with Arabic and
Hebrew was indispensable to the ambitious student.
Latin, whose corrupted idiom was the language of the
Church, was the vehicle of priestlj^ intercourse, and
the medium through which were transmitted Papal
decrees and ecclesiastical tradition. The ancient
classics of Greece and Rome were practically un-
known outside the Peninsula; and there is good
reason to believe that a majority of the famous prel-
ates of the time were ignorant that they had ever
existed. The accurate retranslations of these works
into Latin from the Arabic, into which they had been
originally transcribed, first revealed their merits to
Western Europe, and paved the way to the revival
of learning. The impulse imparted by this means to
literary curiosity and investigation found its culmina-
tion in the epoch which produced Aretino, Petrarch,
Boccaccio, and Dante. The Italian Renaissance, the
dawn of modern European intelligence and progress,
received its inspiration from the civilizing influences
and cultivated tastes brought to extraordinary perfec-
tion in the great cities of Southern Spain.
The dissolution of the Moslem empire, its subse-
quent division and gradual conquest, naturally
effected great changes in the political relations and
ultimate destiny of the Hebrew race. Under the
Moorish Empire in Europe 149
petty kings who administered with various fortune
the shattered fragments of the magnificent inheri-
tance bequeathed by the Ommeyade khahfs, the con-
dition of the Jews changed with the caprices and the
passions of each new tyrannical potentate. For the
most part, however, they received indulgent and often
flattering treatment. The Mohammedan sovereigns
recognized the value of such subjects; there were
many whose political sagacity was not obscured by
prejudice, and who still observed the tolerant precepts
of Islam. At Granada the Jews had always been
popular; there is a tradition that the capital of the
kingdom was founded by them. In the fourteenth
century, there were fifteen thousand Hebrew families
resident in that city. While the rest of the Peninsula
was convulsed with revolution and disorder, and their
kinsmen were being everywhere persecuted and robbed
by Papal inquisitor and Christian king, the Jews of
Granada pursued their occupations in peace, under
the protection of the Zirite and Alhamar dynasties,
until the final success of the Spanish arms involved
their nation in irretrievable ruin.
The Jews were the principal medium through which
Moorish civilization was permanently impressed upon
Europe. Their peculiar characteristics ; their vitality
amidst the most dreadful misfortunes; the intimate
relationship maintained by their communities, where
distance and territorial isolation seemed matters of
little importance, and their wide distribution were
most important factors in the maintenance and dis-
semination of knowledge. The Jew travelled with
safety in lands where a price was set upon his head;
outside of Moslem jurisdiction, even among strangers
unfamiliar with his story and his creed, the Saracen
was an outcast. The requirements of royal and eccle-
siastical incompetency contributed to the preservation
of that learning which ignorance and fear constantly
150 History of the
incited to destroy. As the Peninsula yielded by de-
grees to the steady encroachments of Christian power,
the superior abilities of the Jews proved a potent safe-
guard against oppression. In spite of the furious
protests of fanatics, they exercised the most impor-
tant public employments. Kings of irreproachable
orthodoxy habitually availed themselves of their
unrivalled medical attainments. The physicians of
Alfonso X., Pedro el Cruel, Henry III., Juan II. of
Castile, of Jaime I. of Aragon, of Duarte and Juan
I. of Portugal, were all members of the detested
sect. Their tact and discernment caused their services
to be enlisted in the settlement of perplexing ques-
tions of diplomacy. The early times of the Recon-
quest were far from exhibiting the vindictive and
intolerant spirit which marked its termination. The
Hebrew colony at Toledo numbered twelve thousand
souls. Its academy stood fii'st in rank among similar
institutions in Europe. A vast sum was annually paid
by this tributary population into the royal treasury
of Castile.
The king, the noble, and the scholar treated the
Jew with favor, often with the highest consideration.
The clergy and the mob were ever his bitterest enemies.
His extraordinary influence was daily manifested in
defiance of savage laws which public sentiment en-
acted and applauded, but was unable to enforce. The
hated sectary, proscribed by both the ecclesiastical and
civil powers, pursued his way, indifferent to the edicts
of either the altar or the throne. He dictated the
policy of the government. He made treaties with
foreign nations. He flaunted his wealth in the faces
of the rabble. With strange inconsistency, members
of the priesthood sold him Christian serfs, whom their
own decrees declared it was illegal for him to own.
They pledged with him the consecrated vessels of their
calling for money with which to indulge in forbidden
Moorish Empire in Europe 151
pleasures. His opulence was his most serious offence.
In the thirteenth century, one-third of the entire real-
property of Castile was in the possession or under the
control of the Hebrews. At the death of Pedro II.
of Aragon, they had acquired possession of all the
demesnes of the crown, by the purchase of claims
against the state. At one time they owned nearly all
the city of Paris. Their pomp and insolence aroused
the envy and hatred of the nobles, many of whom
were virtually their prisoners for default in the pay-
ment of debts. During the reign of Pedro el Cruel,
Joseph-ben-Ephraim, the royal tax-gatherer, rode in
a magnificent coach, guarded by a retinue of fifty
armed attendants. His clerks were the sons of Span-
ish grandees. It was long a popular saying in Europe
that " The Castilians had the pride and the devotion,
the Jews the talents and the money."
The Spanish cavaliers who had experienced the
prowess and courtesy of their Moorish adversaries,
as a rule, cherished no bitterness against the Jews.
Those who, in the course of events, were absorbed
with the territory of the growing kingdom, often
elicited admiration and respect by reason of their
commanding talents and erudition. The political ad-
ministration of Castile and Leon, under Alfonso
VIII., was committed to a Jew; and his physician,
who was of the same race and enjoyed the royal
confidence, was chosen by the nobles as an intermedi-
ary between themselves and their sovereign in a trans-
action which required the exercise of the greatest
ability and discretion. A beautiful Jewess was for
many years the mistress of Alfonso IX., over whom
her empire, while unbounded, was never abused ; until
at last the clergy, scandalized rather by the nationality
of the favorite than by the gravity of the sin, caused
her to be sacrificed to public resentment. It requires
but a glance at the writings of the few mediaeval
152 History of the
reformers to infer how much consistency there was
in this simulated indignation. The works of these
alone are sufficient to establish the existence of uni-
versal sacerdotal depravity among those censors of
public morals whose scruples were excited by the in-
fluence ascribed to the charms of a lovely infidel.
Under Alfonso el Sabio, the Jews received greater
consideration than under any other Christian monarch
of Spain. The famous Alphonsine Tables, drawn up
under the direction of Hebrew astronomers, were the
most memorable scientific achievement of the epoch.
Their cost, which exceeded the enormous sum of four
hundred thousand ducats, is indicative not only of the
interest of that prince in undertakings whose impor-
tance was neither understood nor appreciated else-
where, but of the value attached to the services of
great scholars, whose knowledge had been imparted
by a civilization which their royal patron considered it
his political and religious duty to eradicate.
The indulgent policy of Don Pedro el Cruel to-
wards his Hebrew subjects was one of the most re-
markable peculiarities of his sanguinary reign. His
financiers and his confidential advisers were members
of that proscribed race. The treasurer of the mon-
archy, Samuel Levi, whose position and favor enabled
him to amass a princely fortune, is remembered by
Jewish tradition as one of the great benefactors of
humanity. The extraordinary power he wielded ; the
splendor of his retinue ; the sumptuous appointments
of his palace ; his patronage of letters ; the prodigal
generosity he displayed in the relief of the unfortu-
nate and the deserving of every nationality, have
exalted, perhaps exaggerated, his merits in the mem-
ory of his countrymen. His greatest claim to distinc-
tion, however, consists in the erection, at his own ex-
pense, of a superb synagogue at Toledo. This edifice,
unique of its kind, was built by the most skilful Moor-
Moorish Empire in Europe 153
ish artificers of Granada, and its decorations sug-
gested the most finished and elegant models of Arab
art. Its walls were embellished with miniature horse-
shoe and stalactitic arches, whose openings were re-
lieved by polygonal ornaments and golden stars.
Belts of foliage alternating with appropriate inscrip-
tions composed the frieze ; and the ceiling, which was
of the incorruptible cedar of Lebanon, resembled, in
the maze of its geometrical designs, the artesonados
of the Alhambra. In common with the other prin-
cipal synagogues of Toledo, the earth upon which
the pavement was laid was said to have been brought
from Mount Sion, a tradition which enhanced their
sanctity in the eyes of the worshipper.
Many converted Hebrews, as the reward of their
apostasy, were raised to the most exalted civil and
episcopal dignities ; unusual literary accomplishments
in a Spanish prelate during the Middle Ages were
almost infallible indications that his information had
been derived from infidel sources ; and Catholic piety
recognized no more ardent defenders of the dogmas
of the Church than the converted Jews, Paul, Bishop
of Burgos and Grand Chancellor of Castile, and
Alfonso de Spina, Rector of the University of Sala-
manca. The celebrated Bible produced at Alcala de
Henares through the munificence of Cardinal Xime-
nes, at a cost of fifty thousand pieces of gold, and
which required the unremitting labor of fifteen years,
was the work of apostate Jews. Three secretaries of
Queen Isabella were of the despised nationality. One
of them, the famous chronicler Pulgar, had held the
same office of trust under King Henry IV.
The intolerance of the Spanish clergy increased in
an exact ratio with the decadence of Moslem power.
As ecclesiastical supremacy became strong enough to
control the policy of the throne, the privileges of the
Jews, already greatly curtailed, were almost entirely
154 History of the
abolished. As yet, however, the sovereign was unable
to dispense either with the taxes they paid, which were
the most important part of the royal revenues, or with
the financial talents and sterling honesty which in-
sured their proper disbursement. It was not until the
reign of Ferdinand and Isabella that fanaticism was
allowed to prevail over the wise and prudential con-
siderations of policy which, though frequently inter-
rupted by scenes of horror and carnage, had in prac-
tice ignored for centuries the fulminations of eccle-
siastical synods and councils. As the rise of Hebrew
greatness in the Peninsula dates from, and is attrib-
utable to, the Moslem conquest, in like manner its
decay progressed with the declining fortunes of the
Saracens, and its destruction was coincident with the
disappearance of their empire.
Scattered throughout Europe, the Jews alone pre-
served for future generations the precious heritage of
Arab science and culture; and had they not proved
capable of retaining and transmitting it, the dis-
coveries of Moorish genius, banished with those who
made them, would have been forever lost to posterity.
The effects of civilization, whose arts, distributed
through the agency of the Hebrews, were productive
of such great results, were principally manifested, as
might readily be conjectured, in the countries contigu-
ous to or most intimately connected with the Penin-
sula. The tide of Hebrew emigration and trade rolled
steadily into France, Portugal, Italy. The states of
Provence and Languedoc, under the Gothic name of
Septimania, early overrun by the conquerors of Spain,
were, long prior to that time, subject to Hebrew in-
fluence. Attracted by the salubrious climate and the
excellent commercial facilities of the coast, the Jews
settled there in great numbers. The overthrow of the
Mohammedan power in that region was not followed
by the immediate abohtion of the social and educa-
Moorish Empire in Europe 155
tional systems which it had inaugurated, and whose
perpetuation was insured by the most favorable ch-
matic and ethnological conditions. At Lyons, the
Jews at one time were held in such esteem that the
market day was changed from Saturday to Sunday
in deference to their religious prejudices. In Prov-
ence, practically free from the humiliating distinc-
tions of caste, they enjoyed the same privileges and
were entitled to the same protection as other citi-
zens. At Beziers, Carcassonne, Avignon, Montpel-
lier, and Narbonne the Hebrew element predomi-
nated. It has already been stated that the famous
school of Montpellier owed its origin to the Arabs
and the Jews. The Moslem conquest vastly increased
the Hebrew population, which had already been nu-
merous in Southern France for more than eight
hundred years. The mystery which in times of medi-
aeval darkness enveloped everything derived from
Hebrew and Arabic sources, the peculiarities of the
written, the incomprehensibility of the spoken, idioms,
in which education was imparted, the methodical
treatment of disease, so thorough in application, so
successful in results, pursued by its graduates, and
immeasurably superior in every respect to the mum-
meries of priestly superstition, invested the University
of Montpellier with a reputation which, acquired at
the expense of sacerdotal influence, was attributed by
the ignorant to the invocation of infernal spirits. The
infidel physicians of that institution were shunned by
the devout as sorcerers. The Church excommunicated
all who had recourse to them. Not only in that city,
but through the greater part of Christendom, it was
considered far better to permit an invalid to perish
than to secure his recovery by the aid of practitioners
whose methods were denounced from every pulpit as
diabolical and infamous. Christian women often died
in childbed rather than summon a Jewish midwife,
156 History of the
whose profession was exercised with signal ability, and
whose education was little less thorough and profound
than that of the doctors of the medical school. Such
sacrifices were regarded as peculiarly meritorious, as
establishing beyond doubt the consistent piety of the
victim. Under existing circumstances, there was no
relief for the priest-ridden sufferer, for the practice
of medicine was confined to the Jews. The applica-
tion of relics, even when strengthened by the most
edifying exhibition of faith, could hardly prevail
against a fatal distemper. On the one hand was the
terrifying prospect of impending dissolution; on the
other, the assurance of divine displeasure and the cer-
tainty of sacerdotal condemnation. In the midst of
this general intolerance the Lords of Montpellier
stood firm. They were proud of their city, proud
of its wealth, its enterprise, its intelligence, its repu-
tation. They thoroughly appreciated the conditions
under which that reputation had been created. Their
Jewish subjects were the wealthiest, the most learned,
the most law-abiding of citizens. They had more than
once discharged with credit important public employ-
ments. They had their exchange, their banks, their
schools, their cemeteries, even their own wells for
purposes of ablution. They worshipped in a magnifi-
cent synagogue, which in richness and beauty vied
with the most splendid mosques, and from whose ceil-
ing of aromatic woods were suspended hundreds of
golden lamps. Not only had their hereditary com-
mercial instincts made Montpellier a great and pros-
perous emporium, but their ingenuity was exhibited in
the establishment of many important branches of
manufactures. The cloths exported by them were
especially noted for delicacy of finish and texture. In
the goldsmiths' shops was produced elegant jewelry
of classic design. Not a few of the sacred vessels
used for the celebration of the mass in the cathedrals
Moorish Empire in Europe 157
of Europe were fabricated by the Jewish artisans of
MontpelHer. Some of the most lucrative depart-
ments of industry for which Mohammedan Spain
was famous were represented in that city, among
them those of silk, leather, and porcelain. The in-
corporation of the dominions of the Lords of Mont-
pelHer into the French monarchy not only subjected
the Jews to the disabilities and persecutions elsewhere
the heritage of their race, but, as a necessary conse-
quence, proved fatal to the prosperity of that flour-
ishing provincial capital. Royal and episcopal avarice
rioted in a new and productive field of legalized ex-
tortion. The Jews were robbed and expelled, recalled
under promises of immunity, and plundered again and
again. The feudal law of mortmain authorized the
confiscation of their property if they were converted ;
if they refused this questionable privilege, official
oppression at once reduced them to beggary.
With the increase of Christian influence in South-
ern Europe their condition grew more and more
desperate. At Toledo, a riot having broken out on
account of the levy of an obnoxious tax, the public
disorder was made an excuse for the spoliation and
massacre of the Jews. In many districts in Europe
people were prohibited from furnishing them with
the necessaries of life. At Aix, a Jew was flayed alive
for alleged blasphemy, and a column was erected to
commemorate the pious deed. The menacing elo-
quence of St. Vincent Ferrer is said to have driven
fifteen thousand Valencian Hebrews to the Catholic
communion. The cry raised against Jewish rapacity
by dishonest or insolvent debtors enured to their bene-
fit in the proceeds resulting from pillage, and by the
forcible recovery of chattels deposited with brokers
as security. Public hatred was not confined to de-
nunciation of their financial methods; their learning
and its depositories shared the common obloquy. He-
158 History of the
brew manuscripts were destroyed whenever found.
At Salamanca alone, six thousand were consumed in
a single bonfire. In Paris, in one day, twenty-four
cart-loads of literary treasures were committed to
the flames. Monkish intolerance raged everywhere
against these dangerous competitors for popular
favor and pecuniary gain. This prejudice extended
to their language; its study was forbidden under
penalty of excommunication; and it was constantly
proclaimed from the pulpit that whoever acquired it
became from that moment to all intents and purposes
a Jew. Gradually excluded from all mechanical
trades and liberal professions, the unhappy people
were driven to the business of brokerage. To this un-
popular calling, whose commercial necessity was as
yet unrecognized by European ignorance, Hebrew
enterprise was ultimately, for the most part, restricted.
The practice of usury, reprobated by those whose im-
providence or vices forced them to have recourse to
it for temporary relief, had existed in Europe long
before the stigma arising from its abuse attached to
the Jewish name. The Lombards and Florentines,
whose unfeeling rapacity belied their claim to hu-
manity, were those who first rendered it odious; and
the Apostolic See repeatedly sold to commercial or-
ganizations the privilege of financial oppression. The
small amount of cash in circulation authorized the
imposition of enormous rates of interest. In Spain,
under Christian domination, the rate was limited to
thirty-three and a third per cent., and in other coun-
tries it was even more exorbitant, but regulated, as
such matters always are, by the natural laws of
supply and demand. The Italian brokers, who plied
their calling in France, not infrequently exacted one
hundred and twenty per cent, per annum. The edicts
of kings and the anathemas of councils were in-
effectually directed against this evil, which threatened
Moorish Empire in Europe 159
the impoverishment of every necessitous person of
credit, produced unspeakable suffering, and seriously
retarded the progress of national prosperity. Those
loudest in their denunciations were generally the first
to apply for pecuniary advances to the objects of
their simulated wrath. Catholic sovereigns secretly
pledged the royal jewels with Hebrew usurers; and
it was the public boast of the latter that the sacred
vessels of cathedrals and religious houses were the
greater part of the time at their absolute or condi-
tional disposal. The glaring inconsistency which
characterized every phase of Jewish persecution was
thus unusually conspicuous in the condemnation of
their usurious practices.
In Portugal, whose proximity to and original in-
corporation with the Hispano-Arab empire had at-
tracted a large Hebrew immigration, the Jews, as else-
where, availing themselves of the superior attainments
acquired under Moslem institutions, speedily grew
rich and powerful. There, also, in an ignorant society
debased by the predominance of a narrow and des-
potic ecclesiastical system, their toleration became for
a time a political necessity. Their services were so
indispensable to all orders of the state that the dis-
abilities imposed upon them were regarded as merely
nominal, and the laws regulating their intercourse
with each other and with the Christians remained for
the most part inoperative.
In Italy, the hand of the Jew was visible in the
energy and enterprise of the maritime states of
Venice, Genoa, Leghorn, and Naples. A less intoler-
able existence was insured to him under the shadow
of the Papal throne. The exiles of Western Europe,
expelled by the short-sighted policy of irrational
fanatics, were coldly welcomed on the banks of the
Po and the Tiber and on the sunny shores of the
Adriatic. The industry and culture inherited from
160 History of the
the golden age of Moslem domination became sources
of wealth, mercantile importance, and literary dis-
tinction to the Italians, whose reluctant hospitality
was eventually repaid a hundred-fold by the profit
derived from the labors of these refugees and the re-
sults of the emulation excited by their example. It
was thus that, after the lapse of five centuries and at
a distance of a thousand miles, the civilization of the
JMoslem empire in Spain produced, through the
agency of an alien and exiled race, the glorious revival
of arts and letters in Italy. That the Jews should
be credited with the dissemination of Arab science
and literature is demonstrated by the fact that in
whatever country those of Spanish extraction, or their
descendants, established themselves, the people of that
country quickly experienced an intellectual impulse
unknown to others not exposed to similar associations.
Modern civilization has ill-requited the priceless bene-
fits it has received from Jewish learning and Jewish
skill.
The tenacity of the mind of the Israelite was
amazing. It never relaxed its hold upon a valuable
idea once within its grasp. Much as it communicated,
its secretive character induced it always to suppress
far more than it imparted, a habit which increased its
mysterious influence. It had the peculiar quality of
immediately quickening into life the more sluggish
mental natures of all with whom it was brought in
contact. No disposition, however harsh or ascetic, was
proof against the exertion of its power. The Jewish
colonies, transplanted into the midst of an ignorant
population, became at once foci of learning. Bigotry
itself regarded with awe and respect the intellectual
superiority which anticipated and checked hostile
measures directed against its continuance, and, with-
out the employment of force, nullified laws espe-
cially enacted for its repression. It was not strange
Moorish Empire in Europe 161
that prosperity maintained in the presence of such
obstacles should be attributed to diabolical interfer-
ence. Into his new home the Jew brought not only
the energy and acuteness which were the guaranty of
his success, but the intelligent curiosity which was the
principal factor of his extraordinary mental develop-
ment. Not a few possessed extensive libraries, lux-
uries absolutely unknown in many European coun-
tries where even writing materials did not exist, or,
if they did, were unavailable. The scattered books
to be found in churches and monasteries were palimp-
sests, ancient parchments from which the productions
of classic authors had been laboriously effaced to make
room for saintly homilies and patristic legends. Per-
fection in calligraphy had kept pace with the other
artistic achievements of the Spanish Hebrews. Their
Biblical manuscripts had a world-wide celebrity for
accuracy of text and beauty of ornamentation. Many
were illuminated with arabesques and floral designs
executed in colors and embellished with gold. So
highly were these copies of the Scriptures valued that
in Spain one of but ordinary merit readily brought a
hundred crowns.
The number of Hebrew writers who attained dis-
tinction in the Middle Ages was enormous. The great
catalogue of Bartholoccius, which enumerates those
of Spain, Italy, and France countries particularly
subject, directly and individually, to Arab influence
fills four volumes in folio and contains four thou-
sand names. Among these, authors of Spanish origin
largely predominate. The activity of the Hebrew in-
tellect was not hampered by conventional restrictions
of sex, nor deterred by the difiiculties or demands of
any profession or calHng. Among that people, pre-
cautions arising from Oriental jealousy, which had
been observed from time immemorial, required the
seclusion of women; and this custom was naturally
Vox,, IIL XI
162 History of the
unfavorable to female education. They were practi-
cally the slaves, first of their fathers, then of their
husbands. In public they always appeared veiled
from head to foot. In so little esteem were they ordi-
naily held, that it was not considered necessary to
instruct them even in the doctrines of religion. What-
ever talents, therefore, Jewish females possessed were,
until the Saracen domination in Europe, unknown and
undeveloped.
The educational facilities afforded the Moorish
women under the beneficent sway of the Ommeyade
khalifs, and the prominence attained by many of
them in the world of letters, did not fail to exercise
its influence upon the habits and the career of their
Jewish sisters. This fact is of the greatest impor-
tance, in view of the strict subordination enforced
upon Hebrew women in all periods of their history,
a regulation largely due to their naturally dependent
condition and their alleged intellectual inferiority.
In the cultivated society of Cordova, the stubborn
tenacity of long-established prejudice vanished before
the enlightened and progressive spirit of the age.
Under such circumstances, even the severe authority
of the rabbis became, in a measure, relaxed ; and while
the names of no Jewish women pre-eminently distin-
guished for learning have come down to us, it is an
unquestionable fact that they were allowed to enjoy,
to an extent hitherto unprecedented, the literary ad-
vantages whose possession was generally admitted to
constitute an exclusive privilege of the masculine sex.
As the policy and traditions of the Synagogue dis-
couraged such innovations, it is not strange that no
record of their results has been preserved. The ex-
haustive researches of Kayserhng have brought to
Hght the name of a single Hebrew poetess, Xemosa,
of the era of the khalif ate ; but all particulars of time
Moorish Empire in Europe 163
and locality, of her literary career, and of the char-
acter of her works are missing.
The most remarkable peculiarity of the Hebrew
character was its versatility. In every pursuit in
which his talents were employed the Jew of Spanish
origin rose to unrivalled distinction. The marvellous
erudition and diversified accomplishments of their
scholars were not inferior to those of the Moorish
philosophers of Cordova in the most glorious days of
Moslem dominion. They became equally proficient in
many branches of abstruse science, any one of which
was sufficient to exhaust the mental resources of an
ordinary student. Their eminence in the practice of
medicine gave rise to the popular belief that an ad-
mixture of Jewish blood was absolutely essential to
success in that profession, an opinion not confined to
the vulgar, but seriously discussed by a learned Italian
historian. The fact that the study of astronomy
should have been almost always combined with that
of medicine is one of the most singular incidents in
the annals of literature. It might be explained by a
predilection for astrology, if Hebrew intelligence had
not long outgrown the belief in that delusion, so prev-
alent in the infancy of knowledge. In familiarity
with the visible heavens, with the motions of the
planets, and the relative position of stars, in accuracy
of mathematical calculation, in dexterous use of the
astrolabe and the armillary sphere, they surpassed all
other observers except the Arabs. So popular was
this science among them in Spain during the thirteenth
century that the Jewish astronomers of Toledo alone
exceeded in numbers all the others of Christian Eu-
rope combined. The invaluable services they rendered
to learning were not inferior to the ingenious methods
by which they facilitated international communica-
tion and promoted the convenience and security of
trade. When suddenly expelled from France by
164 History or the
Philip Augustus, they left with Christians in whom
they could confide their personal property, which,
from its bulk or its value, they were unable to carry
with them. After their arrival in Italy, they drew
through Lombard merchants upon the custodians of
their chattels, either for the goods themselves or for
the cash realized from their sale. In this way Eu-
rope became indebted to the Jews for the general in-
troduction of bills of exchange, previously invented
by their countrymen at Barcelona, which from a
benefit to mercantile transactions in the settlement of
foreign obligations have now grown to be a com-
mercial necessity.
Po^^ular prejudice against the Hebrew nationality
was aggravated, not only because of the eminent
ability in matters of literature and finance, implying
superiority, which it displayed, but on account of its
control of the markets of the world and of its pos-
session of the greater part of the money in circulation
west of the Bosphorus. From the tenth century, when
the Moorish ports of Southern Spain had become the
emporiums of the Mediterranean, to the sixteenth,
when the discovery of Columbus and the passage of
the Cape of Good Hope had opened a new field to
the cupidity and ambition of Europe, the trade of
three great continents was subservient to the enter-
prise of the Jews. The commercial heritage be-
queathed to their allies by the Phoenicians had endured
through changes of empire, through the wrecks of
successive dynasties, through persecutions of in-
credible atrocity, for more than twenty centuries.
The persistency which is a marked ethnological
peculiarity of the Jews is at once the cause and the
effect of their claim to Divine favor. The more
intelligent of that people have never expected the
appearance of a personal Messiah. They regard the
popular myth of his coming as symboUzing the
Moorish Empire in Europe 165
termination of national exile, a mere allegorical
allusion to the eventual independence and tranquil-
lity which hope, deepening through ages into belief,
assured them would one day be the condition of their
race. This conviction, founded rather in the knowl-
edge of its justice than in any well-defined prospect
of its realization, sustained them through a long series
of grievous trials and misfortunes. Accused of crimes
such as the utmost ingenuity of malice has never im-
puted to any other sect, they retaliated by acts of self-
sacrifice and generosity. In the midst of the futile
solemnities of the Church, the pomp of processions,
the intonation of litanies, the muttering of prayers,
the smoking of censers, the exhibition of relics, they
administered the remedies of scientific medicine to the
suffering stricken with the pestilence. During the
first visitation of the plague at Venice, in addition to
a liberal donation, they lent the government a hundred
thousand ducats for the relief of the poor. In time of
national peril, their loyalty never faltered, except
when their spirit had been exasperated by continued
oppression. The funds they advanced were employed
to drive the Arabs out of Spain. JMoorish domination,
established through their instrumentality, was thus in-
debted to their contributions for its overthrow. The
most exacting requirements of retributive justice were
certainly satisfied with the penalty exacted by fate for
this perfidious act of ingratitude.
Modern prejudice, like medieeval ignorance, is re-
luctant to confess the obligations learning owes to
Hebrew genius and industry. The Jews were, in turn,
the teachers, the pupils, and the coadjutors of the
Moors; the legatees and the distributors of the pre-
cious stores of Arab wisdom. The rabbis, few of
whom, it may be remarked, were not expert workmen
in the mechanical trades, a knowledge of which was
enjoined by their religion, spread the love of letters
166 History of the
everywhere. All treatises in Arabic, of practical or
scientific value, were translated into Hebrew. Their
familiarity with every branch of classical literature is
apparent in their writings; even the Fables of ^sop
were reproduced in their language. Purity of diction
and elegance of stjde were striking characteristics of
all the literary productions of the Spanish Jews. The
most eminent Christian prelates of Spain during the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries were apostate rabbis.
The proficiency of their medical practitioners has
already been repeatedly alluded to. For years after
the banishment of the Jews from the Peninsula, entire
districts remained without the benefits of medical
treatment. Such as were able resorted to foreign
countries at great expense and inconvenience; the
vast majority of invalids suffered without relief.
The reputation of the Hebrew was so great, even in
the sixteenth century, that Francis I. sent to the Em-
peror Charles V. for a Jewish physician; and one
who had been converted to Christianity having under-
taken the journey to Paris, the French king refused
to receive him as soon as he learned that he was an
apostate. Hebrew erudition exercised no small influ-
ence on both Moorish and Spanish literature. Many
of the treatises of the Jewish philosophers, written in
Arabic, enjoyed a wide circulation in the cultivated
society of the khalif ate and of the principalities which
succeeded it. The first biography of the Cid was
written by Ibn-Alfange, a Jew. The collection of
tales entitled El Conde Lucanor, by Don Juan
Manuel, is borrowed from a composition of similar
character by Moses Sephardi, a Hebrew fabulist.
In the works of all the distinguished Jewish writers
who had either directly or remotely been subjected to
the influence of the Moslem academies of Spain, Aris-
totelian and Neo-Platonic opinions prevail. Orthodox
Judaism could not survive in the atmosphere of those
Moorish Empire in Europe 167
infidel institutions. The rabbis were, without excep-
tion, to a greater or less degree, infected with panthe-
istic ideas. They were firm believers in the heretical
doctrine of Emanation and Absorption. In common
with their Arabic associates, who had long since repu-
diated the legends of the Koran, they accepted in all
its portentous significance the aphorism, " Science is
religion."
Nothing is more remarkable in the history of the
Jews of the Middle Ages than their survival under
persecution. The most awful calamities failed to im-
pair their organization or destroy their faith. They
were naturally a rebellious people. Their ancient
history is a tale of breaches of faith, treason, and
sedition. They were enslaved in a body by Egiza,
King of the Visigoths, for a conspiracy which aimed
at the overthrow of the monarchy. The Crusaders,
inflamed by the harangues of the clergy, on their
march to Palestine butchered them wherever found.
In France alone a hundred thousand were massacred
by the truculent soldiers of the Cross. The Almohade
fanatics drove them out of Spain. Philippe le Bel
confiscated their property and expelled them from his
kingdom. Henry III., of England, sold all the Jews
in his dominions to his brother Richard for a large
sum of money. The Emperor Louis IV. pawned the
Hebrew colony of the city of Spires, like so much
merchandise, to the Bishop as security for a debt. In
Aragon, at the close of the fifteenth century, fiftj^
thousand were put to death and double that number
compelled to renounce their religion. The popes alter-
nately treated them with severity and indulgence, as
the financial condition of the Holy See was pros-
perous or necessitous. Thus, while grievously op-
pressed in other countries of Europe, they often en-
joyed temporary immunity in Italy. Possessed of no
civil rights, existing only by sufferance, they were
168 History of the
the prey of every one clothed for the moment with
power. Church and State, ahke, regarded them as
a most valuable source of income. The money annu-
ally extorted from the Jewish population of a king-
dom was frequently far in excess of all other revenues
combined.
The Hebrew works of mediaeval antiquity contain
the germs of scientific discoveries which modern pride
is pleased to designate as of comparatively recent
origin. In the Zohar, a collection of treatises belong-
ing to the Kabbala, are embodied highly philosophic
cosmological ideas, and rational conceptions relating
to the vital principle of Nature, and the scientific
treatment of disease, which were subsequently applied
to public instruction and practical use in the famous
schools of Salerno and Montpellier. The various
physiognomical changes wrought upon the lineaments
of the human countenance by the cultivation of be-
nevolent instincts or the indulgence of evil passions
are there described with a faithfulness which points
to an extraordinary insight into the incentives and
desires which control the actions of men. In this
remarkable compilation of Hebrew learning, the doc-
trine of Pantheism, as suggested by the time-honored
philosophy of India, is set forth ; the globular form of
the earth, its diurnal revolution on its axis, the varying
phases of that planet, the difference in the length of
day and night at the equator and the poles, and the
scientific reasons for the existence of these phenomena,
are all described with an accuracj'^ which is wonderful
when the general ignorance of the epoch during which
these opinions, so far in advance of the time, were
promulgated, is remembered. In the thirteenth cen-
tury, Jedediah-ben-Abraham, of Beziers, advanced
the hypothesis that all objects impelled in opposite
directions, and undisturbed by other forces, move in
straight lines, the essential element of one of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 169
laws now universally recognized as governing the mo-
tions of the heavenly bodies. Solomon-ben- Virga, a
Spanish refugee, in his historical treatise, Sebeth-Je-
huda, published in the sixteenth century, states that
the earth, equally attracted by the surrounding stars,
remains suspended in the midst of space; an unmis-
takable conception of the principle of gravity which
antedates its republication in Europe by more than a
hundred years. The philosophical truths just enumer-
ated, which anticipate the important discoveries of
Boerhaave, Lavater, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton,
afford a suggestive idea of the attainments of the
rabbis, the accuracy of their reasoning, and the extent
and profundity of their scientific knowledge.
While Jewish exiles were instrumental in awaken-
ing the spirit which inspired the Renaissance, and the
consequent intellectual regeneration of Europe, their
literature produced no inconsiderable effect upon the
fortunes of that other momentous revolution which
changed its religious aspect, the Protestant Reforma-
tion. The right of unrestricted perusal and private
interpretation of the Scriptures, which was the vital
principle of that movement, had always been enjoyed
by the Hebrews. Their commentaries on the Bible
were surprisingly voluminous: whole libraries were
composed of them. The writings of the rabbis which
elucidated obscure passages of Holy Writ were com-
posed in a spirit of judicious toleration, entirely for-
eign to the policy dictated by bigoted ecclesiasticism
and Papal authority. To exercise private judgment
in religious matters was to invite the discipline of the
Inquisition. Not one priest in ten thousand under-
stood a word of Hebrew. Its study was prohibited to
Catholics as conducive to heresy. On the other hand,
Luther, Calvin, Melanchthon, Zwinglius, Conrad, in
short, all the great Reformers, were thoroughly pro-
ficient in that language. Rabbinical literature exerted
170 History of the
a powerful influence on their minds, inspired their
efforts, provoked their rivalry, confirmed their resolu-
tion. In this respect, as in numerous others, posterity-
owes much to the despised Israelites of the mediseval
era. A vast interval of time divides the ages of Abd-
al-Rahman I. and Luther; the cities of Cordova and
Worms are separated by many hundred leagues ; but
the inherent ideas of personal liberty and private right
recognized on the banks of the Guadalquivir ulti-
mately prevailed in the centre of Germany, once the
most unlettered of countries. Thus the inheritance of
barbarism, rendered possible by Roman decadence,
transmitted by Goth, Hun, and Vandal, and perpetu-
ated for the material interests of the Church, was
supplanted by the labors and the example of rabbinical
industry and learning. The epoch of ignorance, dur-
ing which men feared to be enlightened by a people
whose transcendent knowledge was believed to be of
infernal origin, was past; but their disabilities were
never entirely removed, and Jew-baiting is, unfortu-
nately, still a popular diversion in some of the coun-
tries of Europe.
The importance of the invention of printing was
at once understood and appreciated by the Jews. Ten
years after it became known, their presses in Italy
produced typographical works of extraordinary
beauty and excellence. Their prominence in every
movement directed towards the weakening of super-
stition and the emancipation of the human intellect
did not prevent them from sustaining intimate and
confidential relations with the Holy See. The Papacy
was, as a rule, not unfavorably inclined towards them ;
it borrowed their money, and availed itself of their
talents in the conduct of public affairs. Many Jews
of Rome attained to great political distinction. Jehid
was the financial minister of Alexander III. ; and the
son of a wealthy Hebrew merchant, named Pietro il
Moorish Empire in Europe 171
Buono, is known to posterity as the antipope Anacle-
tus. Such were the Hebrews of the Middle Ages,
whose success in hterature, art, science, commerce,
pohtics, and diplomacy is to be attributed to the im-
pulse originally imparted to their genius, and to the
privileges enjoyed by their ancestors, under the gen-
erous and tolerant policy of the Khalif s of Cordova.
The expulsion of the Spanish Jews is one of the
saddest and most deplorable tragedies in history. The
royal edict which decided their fate, and whose execu-
tion had been deferred until the Moorish wars were
ended, was published March 31, 1492. The charge
brought against them of having menaced the security
of the State and the tranquillity of the Church, by
projected conspiracy, is too absurd to be seriously
considered. To strengthen these unfounded accusa-
tions, the threadbare fables relating to the sacrifice of
Christian infants at Easter, and the repeated solicita-
tion of Catholics to apostasy, w^ere once more utilized
to inflame the passions of the fanatical multitude.
Three months only were allowed for the disposal of
their property and the completion of their prepara-
tions for departure ; and, if that term were exceeded,
the proclamation made them liable to the seizure
of their chattels, and even to the penalty of death.
They were prohibited from removing from the king-
dom money or vessels of gold or silver; and the only
objects specified in the royal ordinance which they
were permitted to retain were bills of exchange and
portable effects which could easily be transported.
The Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada, revered in the
annals of the Church as one of her most famous
champions, and the confessor of Queen Isabella, to
whose credit stand the tortures of a hundred thousand
heretics and the grief and misery of other unnum-
bered multitudes, was the inspiring spirit of this atro-
cious crime against humanity. His influence neu-
172 History of the
tralized the supplications of an entire people; the
remonstrances of the few statesmen who, withstanding
the popular clamor, foresaw the certain decline of com-
mercial prosperity incident to the enforcement of this
measure ; the insidious and hitherto omnipotent agency
of vast sums of gold. Accounts differ materially as
to the number of Jews expelled from Spain; it was,
however, not less than four hundred thousand, and was
probably near a million. Their sufferings equalled,
if they did not surpass, those of the Moriscoes, after-
wards condemned by a similar proscription. The air
was filled with their lamentations. Many remained
for days in the cemeteries, weeping over the graves
of their ancestors. The majority who travelled by
land went on foot. With the exiles departed the
greater portion of the learning, the skill, the wealth,
the industry, and the prosperity of Spain. Their
estates were confiscated by the crown. Rigid personal
search was made of every individual for concealed
valuables, which impelled many to swallow their gold.
Brigands stripped them on the highway. Sailors
robbed them on the sea. Their wives were ravished,
their children despatched before their eyes. Many
perished from want of food. A pestilence decimated
an entire company, and the survivors were abandoned
to die on a desert island, without water or shelter.
Great numbers were sold by their barbarous custodians
to slave traders. The inadverent disclosure of wealth
was fatal to its possessor ; he was at once thrown over-
board, and his property became the spoil of the mur-
derer. Those who landed in Morocco were not per-
mitted to enter the cities, and a famine which at that
time v/as desolating the country made it impossible
for such an increased population to obtain subsistence.
Encamped in the arid desert, they were compelled to
have recourse to unwholesome roots and herbs in a
desperate effort to sustain life. Thousands died of
Moorish Empire in Europe 173
exposure. Many sold their children to avoid starva-
tion. A large proportion of these refugees landed in
Italy, where an enlightened public sentiment stood
ready to profit by the wealth and industry that the
narrow spirit of Spanish bigotry was so determined
to throw away. Pope Alexander VI., the head of the
house of Borgia, notwithstanding that the prominent
Israelites of Rome offered him a thousand pieces of
gold to exclude them, received the heretics proscribed
by the most Catholic sovereigns with the utmost con-
sideration and sympathy. The maritime states of the
Adriatic compelled their Hebrew citizens, who, fear-
ing commercial rivalry, were inclined to regard this
influx of strangers with disfavor, to render substan-
tial assistance to their unfortunate brethren. In Hol-
land, also, the exiles were welcomed with a hospi-
tality that in after years the advantages derived from
their establishment abundantly repaid. The antipathy
entertained by the Spanish populace towards the Jews,
diligently fostered by the infamous arts of the Inqui-
sition, was far from being dissipated by the banish-
ment and extermination of the victims of its malevo-
lence; in default of the living, its vengeance was
wreaked upon the dead. Nearly a century after the
expulsion, when an avowed Israelite could not be
found in the Spanish monarchy, the Hebrew cemetery
at Seville was invaded by a mob; the costly monu-
ments were battered into fragments; the graves
opened and rifled, and the mouldering bones found in
them burned to ashes. A considerable booty in gold
and silver trinkets, jewels, precious stuffs, and illu-
minated manuscripts rewarded this act of sacrilege,
whose authors were neither molested nor punished by
the authorities.
Among the most eminent victims of Jewish perse-
cution was the great statesman and scholar, Abarbanel.
No name in letters stood higher than his. In turn, the
174 History of the
favorite and absolute minister of the sovereigns of
Portugal, Spain, and Naples, he shared the fate of
his countrymen, and, deprived of his offices and home
in each of these kingdoms, was three times driven into
exile. Such was the respect which his talents inspired,
that the princes who had been foremost in persecuting
him were glad to avail themselves of his experience
in settlements of important questions of diplomacy.
His literary ability was so great that his admirers have
classed him with Maimonides. In philosophy he was
most liberal ; in religion a polemic ; in politics, strange
to say, a republican. In private or in public life no
stain or dishonor ever attached to his name.
The scenes witnessed during the expulsion of the
Jews from Portugal were even more shocking in their
barbarity than those that characterized their expatria-
tion from any other country of Christian Europe.
Only two months were allowed them to settle their
affairs; if any remained beyond that time they were
condemned to slavery. All males under the age of
fourteen were to be separated from their relatives, that
they might be brought into the pale of the Church,
which aimed at the annihilation of their race. The
latter part of the inexorable sentence was the first to
be executed. The screaming boys were torn from
the arms of their parents, who were brutally clubbed
until they released their hold ; many distracted mothers,
unable to sustain the loss of their children, committed
suicide or killed their offspring; of the latter some
were cast into wells, others were strangled. Every
obstacle was thrown in the way of the departure of
the Jews until the limited time had expired, and then
nearly the entire number was enslaved. Apostasy was
now the only remedy for their distressed condition, and
this many embraced. Their social status was thereby
immensely improved at the expense of their con-
science. They contracted distinguished alliances with
Moorish Empire in Europe 175
their recent oppressors, and their children were
adopted into the families of the nobility.
The Spanish Jews, by reason of the peculiarities of
their situation, the hostility of their rulers, ^which
their pecuniary resources and natural acuteness often
baffled, yet never entirely overcame, and their suc-
cessive domination by races of different origin, faith,
and language, were impressed with mental character-
istics and peculiarities not to be met with in their
brethren of other countries. Their rigid formalism
was proverbial, and the Hebrew of Toledo observed
more conscientiously the precepts of the Pentateuch
and the Talmud than the Hebrew of Damascus or
Jerusalem. But their traditional reserve did not pre-
vent them from soliciting proselytes; and it is stated
that the rabbis, ignoring the prohibitory injunctions
of the national Code, upon one occasion challenged
the bishops to a debate, in presence of the throne, upon
the merits of their respective systems; an act of
audacity which does not seem to have excited even the
surprise of the prelates of that age. The Spanish
grandee prides himself upon his Gothic ancestry, the
sangre azul, whose presence is presumed to indicate
conclusively that in the ascending line can be found
no progenitor of the despised Semitic race. The fal-
sity of this presumption was, however, established by
the councils convoked by royal authority at Burgos,
Valladolid, and Madrid during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, to settle the question of purity
of blood. According to the statutes adopted by these
Informaciones de Nobleza, as they were called, de-
scent from a Jewish ancestor was solemnly declared
to be no blemish upon a noble escutcheon, a decision
which affected not a few of the oldest and haughtiest
families of Castile and Aragon.
There are to-day few of the great houses of Por-
tugal and Spain which have not an admixture of
176 History of the
Hebrew blood. Works have been published by eccle-
siastics tracing this contaminated lineage to its source,
which all the authority of a despotic government was
not able to suppress. It is said that the Portuguese
King Joseph I. once ordered every male of Jewish
descent in his dominions to wear a yellow hat. The
Marquis of Pombal appeared with three; and on being
asked by the King for what use he intended them, he
answered, " In obedience to the royal decree, I have
brought one for Your Majesty, one for the Grand
Inquisitor, and one for myself." This anecdote, whose
authenticity is well established, shows the extent to
which the blood of a once proscribed and persecuted
people, despite all attempts at its annihilation, had
been infused into the veins of the proudest and most
exclusive aristocracy in Europe.
Moorish Empire in Europe 177
CHAPTER XXV
THE CHRISTIANS UNDER MOSLEM RULE
711-1492
Scarcity of Information concerning the Tributary Christians
Supremacy of the Church under the Visigoths Indepen-
dence of the Spanish Hierarchy Its Wealth Civil Organi-
zation of the Christians under the Moors Their Privileges
Restrictions imposed upon Them Freedom of Worship
Churches, Monasteries, and Convents Conditions in Sicily
Greater Severity of the Laws in that Island Anomaly
in the Ecclesiastical Government of Spain The Khalif the
Virtual Head of the Church Abuse of His Power Results
of the Arab Occupation of Septimania Increased Authority
of the Spanish Hierarchy resulting from its Isolation
Social Life of the Christian Tributaries Their Devotion
to Arab Learning They are employed by the Khali fs
in Important Missions Innate Hostility of Moslem and
Christian Number and Influence of the Renegades The
Martyrs Causes of Persecution Contrast between the
Maxims and Policy of the Two Religions Impediments to
Racial Amalgamation.
No portion of Spanish annals presents such diffi-
culties to historical research as that which relates to the
condition of the Christians under the Moorish domi-
nation. Arab writers, usually so minute and circum-
stantial in their narratives, have scarcely mentioned
the subject. The extraordinary conduct of the
martyrs, who courted death by open violation of
Moslem law, seems alone to have attracted their at-
tention or deserved their notice. From this significant
silence the inference would seem to be that the great
mass of Christian tributaries were contented and
peaceable. We learn from St. Eulogius and other
eminent ecclesiastics that the majority of the con-
quered race had apostatized. It is with unconcealed
Vol. III. 12
178 History of the
feelings of sorrow and vexation that they refer to the
widespread defection from the ancient faith. Even
among those whose constancj?^ was unshaken, the
zealots were in a minority. It is not strange, there-
fore, that the Ai-abs should have considered the latter
as irresponsible persons, whose offences, unpardon-
able under the Code of Islam, were punished because
the law permitted the exercise of no discretion on the
part of the magistrate. It is evident that those who
solicited the honors of martyrdom were not regarded
as representatives of either their sect or their nation-
ality. The Moorish historians recount the voluntary
sacrifice of those enthusiasts with every manifestation
of wonder and pity. It was not until their obstinacy,
provoking dissension and revolt, began to menace the
safety of the government, that their language reveals
a feeling of vindictiveness against their misguided
tributaries.
On the other hand, little information of value is
to be gleaned from the Christian chroniclers. Those
who have related the events of their times were all
members of the persecuted faction. Both contempo-
rary and subsequent writers were blinded by prejudice
and actuated by every motive of sectarian bigotry to
the perversion of the truth. Prolix in their enumera-
tion of the sufferings of martyrs, their accounts of
all other occurrences are remarkable for extreme
meagreness of detail. No descriptions are given of
the social relations of the dominant and subject races;
no direct mention is ever made of the thousand inci-
dents constantly transpiring in the intercourse of the
two peojples, trivial in themselves, yet most important
in forming a correct idea of the character, the aspira-
tions, and the life of a nation. Such matters, so in-
teresting to posterity as depicting the manners of a
class during a period conspicuous in history, were too
insignificant for the pen of the monkish annalist, and
Moorish Empire in Europe 179
must now be gathered at random from the narra-
tives of other events, in the elucidation of which they
have been casually and undesignedly mentioned. The
works of these ecclesiastical writers are filled with
errors. They are, as usual, overloaded with absurd
legends and spurious miracles. It is apparent, even
from a superficial perusal, that not only the sufferings,
but the virtues of the saints whose lives they describe
are largely fictitious and often exaggerated. To such
authorities, therefore, little credit can be given by the
historian.
No people mentioned in history ever attained to a
high rank in the scale of civilization whose policy was
founded on the systematic repression of religious
opinions. Theological intolerance is the most serious
of obstacles to intellectual progress. Among the great
nations of antiquity, freedom in religious matters was
generally conceded as a matter of right. Where in-
vasions of that right occurred, they may almost in-
variably be traced to interference with the established
government. The intimate connection of political and
rehgious institutions in those times will readily account
for occasional examples of apparent persecution. The
most eminent Athenian statesmen not infrequently
performed the functions of priest in the ceremonial
of public worship. The title of Pontifex Maximus
was one of the most honorable and coveted of the
dignities of the Repubhc of Rome, and under the
Empire it conferred additional distinction upon the
attributes and the exercise of imperial power. Under
that wise and politic dispensation, the gods of foreign
countries were admitted into the national pantheon on
an equal footing with the domestic divinities, and none
could claim an excessive and undue pre-eminence in
the national system. It was not until the Christians
profaned the altars, and excited mutiny in the army,
that their privileges were curtailed and their religious
180 History of the
ceremonies interrupted. The conditions formerly
prevailing were then revolutionized. Indulgence was
followed by persecution. Persecution disclosed and
produced tens of thousands of proselytes. The ex-
perience of the Christian sect suggested the perpetua-
tion in its religious constitution of the incomparable
political system of the empire, a measure which in the
end contributed so largely to its success, its discipline,
and its permanence. In no country subject to the
authority of the Papacy were the effects of these
advantages of imperial organization more apparent
than in the Spanish Peninsula.
During the era of Visigothic supremacy the influ-
ence of the Church was paramount in every depart-
ment of the civil administration. Its councils regu-
lated the succession, framed the laws, chose the sover-
eign. Its servants dictated every measure of national
policy. Its sanction imparted a sacred character to the
royal edicts. Eminent prelates, who even in trivial
matters never permitted the pretensions of their order
to be subordinated to the interests of the crown, con-
stituted in reality the supreme power of the state.
They negotiated treaties. They participated in cam-
paigns. They imposed and collected taxes. In re-
peated contests with the nobility they generally
emerged victorious. Their intellectual acquirements,
superficial as they were, gave them a decided advan-
tage over their illiterate and often brutal antagonists.
The authority they obtained by superior knowledge,
craft, and energy was in time confirmed by habit and
strengthened by prescription. That authority, based
upon public veneration and extending through count-
less generations, has often been shaken, but never
abolished. The disastrous effects of its abuse are
apparent in every period of Spanish history for more
than a thousand years.
At the time of the Arab invasion, the Visigothic
Moorish Empire in Europe 181
hierarchy was at the summit of its importance and
power. Its former adherence to the Arian heresy had
engendered within it a spirit of independence, which
was not rehnquished with the return of the Spanish
Church to the orthodox communion. The facility with
which an entire people at the command of the monarch
renounced the faith of their ancestors for unfamiliar
and hitherto reprobated doctrines is one of the most
extraordinary events in the annals of Christianity.
Such a peaceful revolution, involving the most sacred
interests of a numerous sect, affords incontestable
proof of the slight hold possessed in those times by
any religious dogma upon the popular mind. With
the acceptance of the Athanasian creed was necessarily
included the acknowledgment of Papal supremacy.
The Gothic prelates, however, were never obsequious
vassals of the Holy See. The Pope soon found that
while he might solicit, he could not compel their obe-
dience. His fulminations did not excite the terror in
Spain which they did in other countries of Catholic
Europe. Where he was not able to command, he was
forced to flatter, to recommend, to temporize. A com-
pact and powerful body of ecclesiastics, in whose
hands were the government of their country and the
election of its king, were naturally loath to submit to
the arrogant dictation of a foreign potentate, whom
their predecessors had regarded as a heretic, and whose
faith they had adopted rather from policy than from
sincere conviction.
The Spanish Church under the Visigoths was emi-
nently worthy of the attention and the favor of the
Holy Father. Its organization was thorough; its
wealth enormous; its priesthood numerous and supe-
rior to their contemporaries in learning and ability;
its national influence unrivalled. Its temples, in a
country whose public monuments had least experi-
enced the destructive effects of barbarian violence,
182 History of the
exhibited in their noble proportions and harmonious
decoration the expiring efforts of classic taste and
genius. The superb edifices of imperial power, vis-
ible on every side, had been at once the inspiration
and the models of the ecclesiastical architect. The
churches and cathedrals of the seventh and eighth
centuries afforded the best examples of the ambition
and opulence of the omnipotent hierarchy. Their
plan was usually that of the basilica. Their walls
were incrusted with precious marbles. Their floors
were of mosaic. In the apse, where stood the altar,
the skill of the artist exhausted itself in elaborate
carvings, paintings, and sculpture. The sacred ves-
sels were of solid gold and silver. Offerings of un-
told value, the tribute of grateful convalescents,
were suspended before the shrine. The accession of
each sovereign was marked by the donation of a
magnificent votive crown to the Cathedral of Toledo.
The pomp of worship in the Visigothic metropolis
exceeded that of all others, excepting Constantinople
and Rome. Its religious processions equalled in
splendor those which awakened the pious enthusiasm
of the devout in the metropolitan churches of those
two famous capitals. The greatest deference was
paid to the sacerdotal dignity. The congregation,
when not kneeling, stood during the service. The
women, always veiled, occupied galleries by them-
selves. No priesthood in Christendom was treated
with more respect, enjoyed more extensive privileges,
or lived in greater luxury than the Gothic clergy of
Spain.
With the Arab occupation this imposing fabric of
spiritual and temporal grandeur fell to the ground.
The power of the hierarchy, formerly unlimited, van-
ished in the twinkling of an eye. Its sacred edifices
were seized and devoted to the sacrilegious uses of
the conqueror. The precious furniture of its altars
Moorish Empire in Europe 183
was deposited in the treasury of the khalif . Its reve-
nues were confiscated. Many of its members fell
victims to the rage of oppressed and injured vassals.
Thousands of others fled almost penniless to Christian
lands. Monks were enslaved and condemned to the
performance of the most arduous and exhausting
labors. Multitudes of nuns passed from the solitude
and meditation of the cloister to the revelry and de-
lights of the seraglio. In view of the popular opin-
ions and prejudices of the time, it is not singular that
this sudden and tremendous revolution should have
been universally attributed to the vengeance of God.
When the fii'st shock of conquest had passed, the
overpowering terror inspired by the presence of the
invaders subsided. They proved to be something very
different from the incarnate demons which a distorted
imagination had painted them. They were found to
be lenient, generous, humane. The law of Moham-
med had specifically designated the privileges of vic-
tory and the rights of the vanquished. The latter
were not slow to recognize and accept the advantages
arising from a speedy and unreserved submission, and
were thus enabled to participate in the benefits of the
civilization, almost from the very beginning inaugu-
rated by their rulers.
The civil organization of the Christians under
Moslem domination differed little from that under
which they had been governed by the princes of Visi-
gothic blood. The amount of tribute which permitted
the free exercise of religious worship, the jurisdiction
of their own tribunals, and the terms conferring the
preservation and enjoyment of their national customs
were defuiitely fixed by law. Each bishopric was as-
sessed at the sum of one hundred ounces of silver
annually, monasteries at fifty, churches at twenty-five.
Individuals were classified according to their rank and
possessions. The rich paid forty-eight dirhems, or
184 History of the
thirty-two dollars, per annum; the middle class,
twenty-five dirhems; the laborer, twelve. From
owners of land a tax upon its products of twenty
per cent., called the Kharadj, was collected. Apos-
tasy was rewarded by the remission of the former ; the
latter, however, was never abrogated. Women, chil-
dren, cripples, beggars, and monks were exempt from
all enforced contributions. Except in cases of obsti-
nate resistance, private property was untouched. The
wealth of the churches, except that of such as were
expressly mentioned in treaties, was legitimate spoil.
Under the rule of the Visigoths, the ownership of
chattels was only conditional, and they could not be
alienated ; under the Moors, that ownership was abso-
lute. The condition of the serfs that cultivated the
royal demesnes whose area was so vast that they
embraced the fifth part of all confiscated territory
was greatly ameliorated. They still surrendered
thirty-three per cent, of the crops, as under their
former masters; but they were freed from the fre-
quent and arbitrary impositions which often deprived
them of the entire fruits of their labor. The conquest
had caused the division of the extensive estates held
by the privileged classes, and obtained by centuries
of extortion and cruelty, into innumerable farms, a
condition which facilitated cultivation and increased
agricultural wealth. Many of these lands, formerly
devoted to pasturage and to the sports of the nobility,
were now improved, and under the skilful efforts of
Moorish industry yielded immensely profitable re-
turns.
Each Christian community was rigidly isolated
from its Moslem neighbors. In the large cities, the
quarter inhabited by the tributaries was walled, and
at sunset the gates were closed. A count of their own
selection, who was generally of noble blood, dis-
charged the functions of governor and collected the
Moorish Empire in Europe 185
taxes, of which he rendered an account to the Divan.
The proceedings of the judicial tribunals were con-
ducted by Christian magistrates under the forms of
Visigothic law. All disputes between Christians were
decided there, and criminals paid the penalty of their
misdeeds as prescribed by the ancient statutes. No
sentence of death, however, could be executed without
the approval of the Moslem authorities. Suits in
which a Mohammedan was a party, and prosecutions
where he was either the participant in, or the victim
of, a crime, were removed from the jurisdiction of the
Christian courts. The Code of Islam prescribed cer-
tain regulations to be observed by all tributaries, and
obedience to which was a consideration for the pro-
tection which the latter enjoyed. Blasphemy of the
Prophet or of his religion, entrance into a mosque,
and apostasy were capital offences. Upon these
points the law was inexorable. Violation of the
chastity of a Moslem woman was also punishable with
death, a penalty which, however, might be averted by
the offender embracing the Mohammedan faith. The
repetition of the familiar formula of Islam, even in
jest, carried with it a renunciation of all former creeds,
and an assumption of the responsibilities of a behever
which could never thereafter be relinquished. These
laws, while apparently of a religious character, were,
owing to the Moslem constitution which united the
functions of both spiritual and temporal sovereignty,
vitally necessary to the dignity and maintenance of
government. Christian fanatics, bhnded by preju-
dice and eager for martyrdom, regarded them as un-
reasonable and tyrannical restrictions, whose public
violation was a duty which they owed to their sect;
meritorious, not only as evincing contempt for a de-
tested religion, but as affording opportunities for
exhibitions of self-sacrifice, certain to elicit the praise
of their companions, and likely to deserve the coveted
186 History of the
honor of canonization. All, therefore, that was re-
quired of the Christians living under Moslem juris-
diction was that they should pay tribute regularly and
obey the laws of the land.
To insure the protection to which they were entitled,
and to secure them from insult and oppression, a
special magistrate was appointed, under the klialifs,
to watch over their interests and supervise their con-
duct. This official, whose title was that of katib, or
secretary, was invested with extraordinary powers, and
was usually a noble of distinguished rank as well as a
personage of high consideration in the Divan.
At the time of the Conquest, a certain number of
churches were set aside for Christian worship ; but that
number could not be increased, nor could additions be
even made to the ancient edifices. In case reconstruc-
tion or repairs were necessary, the identical old ma-
terials were required to be used. The stringency of
these rules was, however, often relaxed by the gen-
erous indulgence of the authorities. The law which
forbade that a building erected by a Christian should
be of greater height than that of a Moslem was also
frequently evaded. In Spain and Sicily the towers of
church and cathedral often overtopped the minaret of
the mosque, an implication of superiority which, in
other countries of the Mohammedan world, would
have caused their instant demolition. In those two
kingdoms of Islam alone the use of bells was toler-
ated. Elsewhere, boards suspended by cords and
beaten with mallets took their place and announced
the opening of Christian service. The greatest liberty
was permitted in the exercise of public worship. The
clergy wore their sacred vestments. They discharged
the duties of their holj^ calling in peace and security,
and those who ventured to interfere with them were
liable to severe punishment. They celebrated mass
with all the pomp of the ancient Visigothic ceremonial.
Moorish Empire in Europe 187
The priest carried the viaticum to the dying, in solemn
procession through the crowded streets. The bodies
of the dead, enveloped in the smoke of tapers and
incense, and preceded by chanting choristers, were
borne to the cathedral for the performance of the final
rites of the Church. The toleration of the Spanish
Moslems even went to the extent of permitting the
use of images execrated as idolatrous by every fol-
lower of the Prophet in Christian temples. Effigies
of saints were by no means rare. In the Cathedral of
Santa Maria at Cordova was a statue of the Virgin.
Her shrine was famous for its sanctity, and, more
accessible than that of Santiago, yearly attracted mul-
titudes of devout pilgrims from every part of Europe.
In each church was preserved the body of the martyr
to whom the sacred edifice was dedicated, and from
whom it derived its name. The great city of Cordova
contained six Christian houses of worship besides the
cathedral. Eleven monasteries and convents offered
a refuge to those who sought the devotional retirement
of cloistered life. Of these, three were in the city and
eight upon the wooded slopes of the Sierra Morena.
Some, instituted probably with a view to the acquisi-
tion of increased merit by resistance to constant temp-
tation, were occupied by both sexes under a single
abbot. The monks appeared in cowl and tonsure ; the
nuns were constantly veiled. All members of the
monastic orders, as well as those of the secular priest-
hood, traversed at will and unmolested the streets of
the capital. St. Eulogius, Cyprian, Samson, and
other contemporaneous ecclesiastical writers bear re-
peated and voluntary testimony to the indulgent for-
bearance extended to Christians by the Khalifs of
Cordova.
In Sicily, practically the same conditions prevailed.
As, however, the indigenous population overwhelm-
ingly exceeded in number that of the invaders, tolera-
188 History of the
tion was necessary for the maintenance of public tran-
quillity, and was, in fact, a measure of expediency as
well as of justice. The civil organization of the
Byzantine Empire was continued. The magistrates
retained the same titles and exercised the same juris-
diction as formerly, subject always to the supendsion
of the officials of the Divan. The procedure of the
ancient tribunals was but slightly modified. The
rights of person and property were fully recognized.
Freedom of worship was guaranteed to all law-
abiding tributaries. Taxation was uniform and
regular; the legal impositions were far less onerous
than those exacted by the tyrannical rapacity of the
Greek administration. Under the Moors, all persons
whose condition or infirmities prevented them from
obtaining a livelihood were exempt; the Byzantine
fiscal agents carried their merciless perquisitions into
the abodes of helplessness, disease, and destitution.
The Moslem law regulating the distribution of estates
and the rights of heirs was so admirably adapted to
the purpose, that it was continued, with trifling modi-
fications, by the Normans, after it had been in force
for nearly two centuries. No lands were confiscated
but those which had been abandoned by their owners.
The number of these was so great that they afforded
ample space for the settlements of the Saracen colo-
nists, who occupied the most valuable portions of the
States of Trapani, Palermo, and Agrigentum.
The restrictions imposed upon the Sicilian Chris-
tians were more harsh than the requirements exacted
of their Spanish brethren. The general provisions of
the Mohammedan code relating to the prohibited acts
of misbelievers were, of course, rigidly enforced. The
Christian priests of Sicily, like those of Spain, were
compelled to perform the rites of their religion behind
closed doors. Like them also, they were forbidden
to publicly discuss the merits of their creed or to at-
Moorish Empire in Europe 189
tempt to secure proselytes. The laws of that island,
considering the numerical weakness of the dominant
race, were strangely severe. As tokens of degrada-
tion, peculiar marks were placed upon the houses of
Christians; they were restricted to a costume distinc-
tive in materials and color, and wore girdles of woollen
cloth or leather. They were forbidden to mount a
horse, to own saddles, to bear arms. They could not
use seals with Arabic inscriptions or give their children
Arabic names. In the streets they gave way to their
Saracen masters, and always stood with bowed heads
in their presence. Drinking wine in the sight of a
Mussulman was visited with exemplary punishment.
No Christian woman was allowed to remain in the
bath with a Mohammedan, even though the latter were
one of the humblest maid-servants of the harem. If
one of the tributary sect admitted the slave of a Mus-
sulman into his house, he was liable to a heavy fine.
The ringing of the bells of church or monastery
loudly was prohibited, as was also the reading of the
Scriptures in the hearing of the followers of the
Prophet. No Christian could cross himself in public.
The slightest interference with Moslem worship was
punishable with death.
Despite these arbitrary and often oppressive laws,
the condition of the Christians of Sicily was, upon the
whole, far more agreeable and prosperous under the
Arabs than it had been under the Greeks. Relief
from arbitrary taxation made secure the profits of
industry. Every branch of commerce was open to the
enterprising. The system of guilds and corporations,
which had existed among tradesmen since the Roman
domination, remained unimpaired. If a Christian dis-
trusted the integrity or capacity of his own magis-
trate, he was at liberty to submit his cause to the kadi,
who rendered judgment according to the maxims and
precedents of Moslem jurisprudence.
190 History of the
In the Spanish Peninsula, the government of the
Church presented a strange and portentous anomaly.
As the representative of Islam was a member of the
family of the Ommeyades, which had, in the begin-
ning, exerted all the influence of a powerful caste to
overwhelm its founder and render his teachings odious,
so now the interests of Christianity were delivered
over to the tender mercies of its hereditary and most
unrelenting foe. The Visigothic sovereigns, chosen
by ecclesiastical councils, were, by virtue of their elec-
tion, clothed with a certain degree of sanctity, and
enjoyed an ample measure of spiritual power. The
monarch practically controlled the policy of the
Church. His decision was final in all matters not
important enough to be submitted to the assembled
wisdom of the great' ecclesiastical dignitaries of the
kingdom. He consecrated bishops. He exercised
without question the sacerdotal rights of presenta-
tion, translation, investiture. He convoked councils.
The fate of every member of the hierarchy, from
acolyte to archbishop, was in his hands. Even the
metropolitan see of Toledo, the primacy of Spain,
could not be filled without his sanction. He could
appoint the most unworthy candidate to the most
exalted station in the priesthood. He could arbitrarily
depose ministers whose lives had exhibited the practice
of every Christian virtue. He interpreted and dic-
tated the application of intricate points of ecclesiasti-
cal law. Notwithstanding the apparent ascendency
of the sacerdotal order in the temporal affairs of the
government on the one hand, it was largely neutral-
ized on the other by the influence of the Crown over
the fortunes of the Church, an influence always
weighty and often predominant.
These prerogatives, dangerous to religious liberty
and liable to abuse even in the hands of an orthodox
sovereign, were transmitted, in all their force, to the
Moorish Empire in Europe 191
Arabian khalifs, as the lords of the lost heritage of
the Visigothic kings. The principle upon which such
authority could pass to the head of a hostile sect,
whose sworn purpose was the annihilation of the very
religion which he was presumed, by virtue of his
office, in duty bound to protect, has not been, and
never can be, explained by any considerations of
honor, consistency, or equity. It was practically a
flagrant usurpation of privileges for which the Mos-
lem sovereign could not allege even a shadow of right.
It was not conferred by conquest. It could not be
accounted for under the color of a legal fiction. Su-
premacy in ecclesiastical government, where the prac-
tice of public worship was guaranteed by treaty, and
the clergy purchased by tribute the management of
their affairs and the enforcement of discipline, cer-
tainly was not implied by the fact that it had been
enjoyed by the ruling prince of the vanquished faith.
Its peaceful exercise for centuries for its validity
does not seem to have been questioned in the writings
of even the most bigoted ecclesiastics is one of the
most singular problems of religious history.
The consequences of this anomalous condition were,
as may readily be conjectured, fatal to the dignity
and order of the Catholic hierarchy. The khalif was,
to all intents and purposes, the spiritual head of two
hostile religions, one of which it was his duty, as well
as his inclination, to exalt ; the other of which he was
prompted by the prejudices of race, inheritance, and
belief to destroy. There were few Hispano-Arab
monarchs who did not contribute their share to the
degradation of Christianity. The highest offices of
the Church were put up at auction. The orthodoxy
and fitness of the candidate were never considered ; his
qualifications were ignored; and his success was de-
pendent upon the amount he was willing to disburse
for the coveted dignity. In this scandalous traffic the
192 History of the
women of the harems and the eunuchs were the recog-
nized agents of the purchaser. There was no secrecy
about these transactions. The practice of simony was
so universal that even the greatest offenders made no
attempt to conceal it. A profligate canon, named
Saul, entered into a written obligation to pay these
corrupt intermediaries four hundred ounces of silver
for the bishopric of Cordova. Some of those raised
to the richest sees of the Peninsula were heretics or
infidels. It was not unusual for a prelate, even dur-
ing Holy Week, to abandon the service of the altar
and indulge in the most shameless excesses of drunk-
enness and debauchery. The ordinances of the
Church were interpreted by men ignorant of the first
rudiments of ecclesiastical law. Priests, whose athe-
ism was notorious, administered the sacraments with
mock humility and imparted hypocritical consolation
to the devout. If any of his flock eluded the search
of the tax-collector, the bishop, more faithful to the
power to which he owed his authority than to the in-
terests of the congregation over which he presided,
stood ready to furnish the desired information from
the registers of the diocese, and to assist in the punish-
ment of the delinquents. When a prelate disregarded
the summons to a council, the vacancy was filled by the
appointment of a Mussulman or a Jew. Such circum-
stances as these were not propitious to either sacer-
dotal welfare or successful proselytism.
Nor were abuses of power confined to the ecclesi-
astical system. The dignity of count, the most emi-
nent office of the Christian magistracy, was also a sub-
ject of negotiation and barter. The opportunities it
afforded for extortion and peculation made it one of
the most lucrative employments in the gift of the
khalif. It was ordinarily bestowed upon a member
of the Visigothic nobility, but the rapacity of the
eunuchs looked rather to the means than to the birth
Moorish Empire in Europe 193
of the aspirant; and persons of base origin and
doubtful integrity not infrequently received the
coveted distinction, which was utilized largely for
the benefit of their patrons, the fiscal officers and
the degraded servitors of the harem. Count Servan-
dus, the son of a slave, who lived during the reign
of the Khalif JNIohammed, has been handed down to
the execration of all good Christians as one of the
most cruel and infamous of oppressors. On a single
occasion, he extorted from his unliappy vassals the
enormous sum of a hundred thousand solidi, equal in
our time to more than half a million dollars.
The various gradations of the hierarchy were pre-
served as before the Arab occupation. The arch-
bishops had the usual number of suffragans subject
to their jurisdiction; the lower orders of the clergy,
their clerks, choristers, readers, and other subordi-
nates. To exercise the office of priest it was neces-
sary for both parents to be of the Christian faith;
if the father were a Moslem, the law of the conqueror
interposed its claim upon the candidate, who, regarded
as a Mussulman by birth, was liable to condemnation
for apostasy. Unlike the canonical practice of other
Catholic countries, an ecclesiastic was eligible to
offices of the most distinguished rank, even to the
primacy itself, without being compelled to pass
through the intermediate grades of the priesthood.
There was no diminution of pomp or solemnity in
the celebration of the rites of Christian worship.
Councils for the regulation of church government
and discipline were even more frequent than under
the Visigoths; during the ninth century, three were
held at Cordova alone in less than thirty-five years.
In many of the monasteries, schools were established
for the communication of instruction, on both sacred
and profane subjects, to those whose religious scruples
prevented them from profiting by the splendid oppor-
VoL. Ill, 13
194 History of the
tunities afforded by the great Arab institutions of
learning. In some of these religious houses were ex-
tensive libraries, composed for the most part, however,
of treatises of patristic science, polemics, and hagiol-
ogy. To St. Eulogius, alarmed by the increasing in-
fluence of the Mussulman academies, which ofl'ered
irresistible attractions to the Christian youth, is due
the credit of having introduced to the notice of his
countrymen the works of Horace, Virgil, Juvenal, and
others of the Latin classics, copies of which he obtained
during a visit to Navarre.
In Spain, as in Sicily, the influence of the Holy
See disappeared with the advent of Moslem suprem-
acy. The clergy of the khalif ate became independent
of the Papacy, arid did not even recognize the au-
thority of the Asturian priesthood, whose members
held councils and promulgated canons, with a nominal
allegiance to Rome. In the abeyance of Papal repre-
sentation, the Metropolitan of Toledo was the su-
preme head of the Spanish hierarchy. The Christians
of Sicily acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Patri-
arch of Constantinople. During the Moorish occupa-
tion of Southern France, the existing religion was
scarcely interfered with. No counts were appointed
to govern or oppress the conquered. No unworthy
prelates were assigned to rich sees as the result of
intrigue or corruption. Few churches were trans-
formed into mosques. The only attempt to restrain
the Christian tributaries was shown by a disposition
to isolate, as far as possible, the clergy of the pro-
vincial settlements from those of the larger to^vns.
The tolerance of Mussulman i-ule is disclosed by the
great preponderance of the subject race existing at
Narbonne, which was always rather a Christian than
a Moslem capital.
The long independence of the Spanish Church ex-
erted no inconsiderable influence upon its subsequent
Moorish Empire in Europe 195
history. Its isolation enabled it to preserve uncon-
taminated the ancient forms and discipline transmitted
by ecclesiastical tradition from apostolic times. The
authority of its councils or the validity of their canons
was never questioned by the most exacting digni-
taries of the Roman hierarchy after it had again ac-
knowledged the jurisdiction of the Papal See. Its
orthodoxy was never impeached. While Europe was
distracted by heresy, no daring religious innovator
threatened the integrity or disputed the power of the
ecclesiastical government of the Peninsula. Its policy
was inimical to change in organization, in ceremonial,
in doctrine. Of all the religious ceremonials in Chris-
tendom its liturgy showed the least alteration, not even
excepting that used in St. Peter's at Rome. When
in 1067 King Alfonso of Leon submitted the rival
claims of the Gothic and Roman rituals fost to the
wager of battle and then to the ordeal of fire, the
Christians of Arabian Spain resolutely adhered to the
ancient and time-honored formulary. The only
schisms recorded were those which sprang from the
conflicting ambition of rival prelates. Under the
iron rule of the khalif s no irregular councils assembled
to disturb the harmony or excite the doubts of the
Faithful. The principal abuse that existed was the
fraudulent manufacture of charters, and the multi-
tude of these pious forgeries whose spurious character
has been exposed indicate at once the ease with which
such documents could be issued, as well as the profit
that must have attended their fabrication. The gen-
erally undisturbed condition of the Mozarabes under
the sway of the House of Ommeyah is the best evi-
dence of their enjoyment of the blessings of civil and
religious liberty.
Their social customs and mode of life show in
many particulars a close affiliation with their masters.
They had forgotten the rude idiom of their fathers.
196 History of the
Arabic was the language in common use among all
classes of the tributary population, both Jew and
Christian. It was an indispensable requisite of offi-
cial position that the incumbent should possess a com-
petent knowledge of that tongue. St. Eulogius re-
peatedly deplores the fact that its prevalence was
universal in the Peninsula. Its popularity increased
with time, and was so great during the domination of
the Almoravides that the Archbishop of Seville caused
the Bible to be translated into Arabic, in order that
it might be intelligible to the priests of his diocese.
The peculiar phrases of Moslem intercourse, such as
" God preserve you!" " May you rest in heaven!" con-
stantly on the lips of the reverent Mohammedan,
formed part of the daily greetings of every Christian.
They gave their children Arabic names. Their attire
and their furniture were similar to those of the domi-
nant race. The conspicuous tokens of degradation
imposed upon the Mozarabes of Sicily were unknown
in Spain even under the Almoravide bigots. The con-
fidence reposed in their fidelity, and the respect with
which their courage was regarded, were evinced by
their constant enrolment in the body-guard of the
khalif s. Partly from a desire to propitiate the favor
of their rulers, and perhaps through conviction of their
physiological benefits, they abstained from pork, and
adopted the rite of circumcision, concessions which,
once granted, practically left the repetition of the
Moslem formula the sole remaining barrier between
the followers of Christ and the sectaries of Moham-
med. These practices, elsewhere unknown to the
Christian communities of Europe, excited the wonder
and abhorrence of the stout old monk, John de Gorza,
ambassador of the German Emperor to the court of
Abd-al-Rahman. He denounced them in unmeasured
terms to the Archbishop of Cordova, who excused their
observance under the plea of necessity, and as customs
Moorish Empire in Europe 197
long countenanced by the Church, a statement which
indicates that in the tenth century they had already
been in use for many generations. In a spirit of
charity, greatly at variance with the intolerant hatred
displayed towards the Moors in subsequent ages,
prayers were regularly offered for the khalif in every
Christian church of Arabian Spain.
Every circumstance relating to the habits and inter-
course of the two races which has come down to us
proves that, openly at least, they did not consider each
other as enemies. Great numbers of Christians em-
braced with eagerness the extraordinary educational
benefits afforded by the schools and academies of the
klialifate. The University of Cordova, open to indi-
viduals of every rank, creed, and nationality, was at-
tended by Christian students, not only resident in the
Peninsula, but attracted from almost every country of
Europe, The infidel doctrines taught in that famous
institution had long provoked the animadversion of
Moslem theologians; but the prejudices they excited
among orthodox Mussulmans were far less intense and
bitter than the aversion entertained towards the pro-
fessors of these opinions by the Catholic clergy. In-
termarriages were frequent, although public senti-
ment, as well as the policy of Islam, discouraged such
alliances. A far greater number of women than of
men renounced their ancestral faith in consequence of
these unions, and the majority of proselytes were those
who embraced the religion of JVIohammed.
Important civil employments were repeately con-
ferred upon Christians eminent for their talents and
integrity. The expostulations of the faquis and the
united influence of the Divan were hardly sufficient
to prevent Abd-al-Rahman III. from appointing a
renegade, whose parents were both Christians, to the
office of Grand Kadi of Cordova, the highest judicial
position of the empire. The latter monarch habitu-
198 History of the
ally employed Christian prelates in missions requiring
the exercise of the greatest tact and ability. Rabi,
Archbishop of Cordova, was sent on different occa-
sions as envoy to the courts of Germany and Con-
stantinople. It was he who was intrusted with the
conveyance of valuable gifts from the Emperor of
the East to the Khalif, among them the fountains
of the palace of Medina-al-Zahra. The Bishop of
Granada was selected to secure the withdrawal by the
German Emperor of the scurrilous letter which the
fanatic John de Gorza was charged to deliver, a task
of great responsibility and one which few were either
competent or willing to undertake. Another prelate
of episcopal rank was also despatched by Abd-al-Rah-
man to congratulate Otho on his victory over the
Hungarians. The predilection of Ali for members
of the nominally prescribed sect constantly aroused the
indignation and alarm of the Almoravide zealots.
Christians were not excluded from the most respon-
sible posts of the Moorish fiscal administration. They
discharged with skill and fidelity the duties connected
with all the various employments of the revenue. To
members of their sect was invariably committed the
collection of the tribute due from their coreligionists.
Thousands of them served in the Mussulman armies.
When Barcelona was besieged by the Franks, the
Christian residents of that city fought side by side
with the Moslems against the orthodox King of Aqui-
taine. Of all nationalities, the Spanish Christians
were considered most worthy to guard the sacred per-
son of the khalif. At no period of the Arab domina-
tion were they absolutely excluded from court. Under
the administration of the Almoravide sultan, Ali, who
was conspicuous among the fanatical princes of his
line for the strictness of his orthodoxy and the au-
sterity of his manners, the Mozarabes were in high
Moorish Empire in Europe 199
favor, and exerted an almost preponderating influence
in the government.
Although in theory belonging to an inferior caste,
in fact the tributary could not, by the unpractised eye,
be distinguished from the votary of Islam. His life,
his habits, his language, were the same. His house
was an exact counterpart of that of his Moorish neigh-
bor; his garments were cut after the pattern of the
Orient. His manners were no longer suggestive of the
rudeness of his Gothic ancestors. When his means
permitted, he went to great lengths in the gratification
of propensities censured by the canons of his Church,
entertained catamites, indulged in polygamous prac-
tices, and filled his harem with female slaves guarded
by retinues of eunuchs.
But while the line of demarcation between Moslem
and Christian was thus faintly drawn, and threatened,
in the course of time, to entirely disappear through the
fusion of the two races, there still existed in the minds
not only of the zealots of the hostile sects, but also
in those of the masses, a profound and irreconcilable
antipathy. This prejudice was sedulously and suc-
cessfully nourished by the Mohammedan faquis as
well as by the Christian clergy. The tributaries, while
apparently on the point of merging into the body of
the conquerors, were in reality isolated from them by
the most powerful emotions that can influence the
human heart. No concessions could thoroughly eradi-
cate the prejudices arising from difl'erence of religious
belief. No familiarities of social intercourse could
banish the humiliating remembrance of conquest. No
political honors could compensate for the injuries in-
flicted by racial animosity. The actual condition of
the Spanish Christians was, therefore, the reverse of
that exhibited by their daily life. In the presence of
a mutual antagonism, all the more violent for being
repressed, there oould be no thorough amalgamation
200 History of the
of races. The exalted spirit of religious enthusiasm
which could voluntarily solicit the tortures of martyr-
dom was not propitious to national apostasy.
And yet the circumstances which appear most con-
spicuous and vital in the consideration of this ethno-
logical paradox would seem to point to an opposite
conclusion. A community of customs generally ex-
isted in which those of the Arab always predominated.
The harems of the Moslems were filled with Chris-
tian maidens who had, without hesitancy or compen-
sation, renounced the faith of their fathers. The cor-
rupted Latin dialect of the Visigoths, proscribed by
Hischem I., was almost extinct. The law forbade it
to be either written or spoken; and it survived only
in the massive volumes of the Fathers or in the
secluded intercourse of the occupants of monasteries
and convents. By the same decree of the Khalif , edu-
cation in the Arabian schools was made compulsory.
Alvarus, who wrote about the middle of the ninth
century, declares that not one Christian could be found
among a thousand who could compose a letter in Latin.
On the other hand, the popularity of the Arab writers,
and the enthusiasm with which their compositions were
peiiised by persons of all ages, were in the eyes of
pious ecclesiastics a national scandal. The growing
inclination to apostasj^, the natural result of these
associations, was also one of the crowning grievances
of the Spanish clergy. As heretofore stated, it is a
fact, well established by the reluctant testimony of the
Fathers themselves, that the greater part of the con-
quered nation had fallen away from Christianity.
Many causes had conspired to produce this lament-
able condition of affairs. The geographical isolation
of the Peninsula, which has always had a tendency
to preserve unaltered the mental and phj^sical char-
acteristics of its people, has also had no unimportant
influence upon the national faith. That country, even
Moorish Empire in Europe 201
at the time of the Saracen invasion, was Christian only
in name. It had never wholly discarded its Pagan
forms or traditions. It was the last kingdom of Eu-
rope to nominally accept the new religion. Its creed
had long been heretodox, and that creed it had aban-
doned, without remonstrance or regret, at the com-
mand of its sovereign. The despotic power of the
hierarchy had never been able to abolish the ceremonies
of Pagan antiquity which were incorporated with the
ritual of the Church. The population, the offspring
of a score of nations, each of which worshipped dif-
ferent divinities and was familiar with the fraudulent
pretensions of many sacerdotal claimants to inspira-
tion, was inclined to discredit and deride them all. To
such a society religious professions and formalities
were naturally matters of indifference. A nation
which could spontaneously abandon the heresy of
Arius would hardly hesitate to embrace the monothe-
istic doctrines of Mohammed. By the Moslems, so
far as their tributaries were concerned, no open induce-
ments were offered for apostasy. The practice of
Islam discouraged the active proselytism advocated by
other sects. The conversion of a Christian tributary,
unless he had violated the law, must be voluntary,
and the obligation, once assumed, could never be
renounced.
The favor enjoyed by the renegade was, however, a
far more powerful incentive than any that the prom-
ises of the ministers of religion could evoke. The
apostate was at once received into full social com-
munion with his former masters. He was eligible to
the highest political and military honors. In theory,
at least, no stigma could attach to his former condition
or antecedents. The equality of all men who pro-
fessed belief in its dogmas was, as is well known, the
cardinal principle of the law of the Prophet.
To the slave, these considerations appealed with
202 History of the
peculiar force. Tens of thousands of this oppressed
and degraded caste had been transferred, at a single
stroke by the fortunes of war, from the hands of one
master to those of another. A host of captives had
been taken in battle. In the minds of but few of
these unfortunates the obligations of religion were
deeply founded. While emancipation did not invari-
ably follow the profession of the faith of Islam, it
usually did ; and the condition of the slave was always
greatly improved by this concession to the prejudices
of him who regulated his conduct and controlled his
destiny. In view of these facts, there is little wonder
that multitudes of slaves embraced the Mussulman
doctrines.
The religious freedom of the Christians under Mos-
lem rule was mainly dependent on the prejudices of
their own clergy, the character of the dominant fac-
tion, and the temper of the sovereign. The provisions
of the treaties which guaranteed their privileges were
at first strictly observed. The general influx of
fanatical foreigners, in time, however, created a strong
l^ublic sentiment against the proscribed tributaries.
They were sometimes deprived of their houses of
worship. Arbitrary contributions were frequently
exacted from them. On one occasion, the Christians
of Cordova were compelled to pay into the treasury
the sum of a hundred thousand pieces of gold, nearly
a million and a quarter dollars. The revenues of the
Church were so impaired by these grievous imposi-
tions, that ecclesiastics were often forced to engage
in commercial pursuits to provide for the pressing
necessities of their order. Some carried the manu-
factures of Cordova to Germany. Others journeyed
as peddlers through France. The trading priest of
Moorish Spain was well known in the markets of
Genoa and Constantinople. Persons in clerical garb
were no longer safe in public places. In the time of
Moorish Empire in Europe 203
the Almoravides, when a Christian passed through the
streets, the crowd shrank from contact with him as
from one stricken with the plague. Rehgious proces-
sions were pelted by mobs of hooting children, and
those who took part in them were fortunate if they
escaped without serious personal injury. The ring-
ing of the church-bells provoked the loud threats and
curses of intemperate zealots. The breaking up of a
congregation during Holy Week was often the signal
for a riot. The vengeance of Allah upon the idolater
was invoked by the scoffing bystanders when the corpse
of a Christian was consigned to the grave.
The clergy, against whom these insults were prin-
cipally aimed, were naturally exasperated by the in-
dignity suffered by their creed and their profession.
Their ignorance, in spite of the example and the bene-
fits of Moslem civilization ever before their eyes, was
not less dense than that of their brethren of Catholic
Europe. With every opportunity to familiarize them-
selves with the tenets of Islam, and thoroughly con-
versant with Arabic, they steadfastly declined to honor
the alleged revelations of the Prophet with their atten-
tion or penisal. Their opinions on this subject they
obtained from the writings of fanatical monks, fully
as ignorant as, and even more bigoted than, themselves.
The sage conclusion which they arrived at from these
researches was that the doctrines of the most uncom-
promising of monotheists and image-breakers were
Pagan and idolatrous.
Apprehensive of violence if they ventured to show
themselves in public, they remained almost constantly
in the seclusion of their dwellings. Even the sacred
calls of duty remained unanswered. Often, for weeks,
mass was not celebrated. The pulpit and the con-
fessional were deserted. The dying passed away
unshriven. Maddened by rage and terror, they were
scarcely accessible even to their sympathizing parish-
204 History of the
ioners, who themselves incurred the risk of ill-treat-
ment from the populace in their visits to the episcopal
palace and the parsonage. Brooding over their
wrongs, encouraged by the promises and exhortations
of the Fathers of the Church, wi-esting the texts of
Scripture to their purpose, fasting many consecu-
tive days, praying for hours at a time, exhausted by
penance, their enthusiasm became wrought up to the
highest pitch. From such a condition the progress to
martyrdom is easy.
The persecution of the Christians of Spain was in-
flicted, for the most part, under the reigns of Abd-al-
Rahman II. and Mohammed. The annoyances to
which they were subjected were by no means so seri-
ous as they subsequently became, when the influence
of the Africans preponderated. The word persecu-
tion, implying as it does the tyrannical abuse of su-
perior power, is not applicable to the circumstances
under which the Mozarabes were sent to the scaffold.
They were rather criminals than martyrs. They vol-
untarily offered themselves for the sacrifice. They
denounced the religion of Islam as false and idola-
trous. They reviled the name of the Prophet. They
rushed into the mosques. When the voice of the muez-
zin resounded from the minaret, they crossed them-
selves, and cried out, " Save us, O Lord, from the call
of the Evil One, both now and in eternity !" In their
eagerness to court destruction, they pushed their way
into the tribunals, and, in the presence of the judge,
gave utterance to their blasphemies. Even the ma-
jesty of the throne was not respected by these frantic
enthusiasts. St. Pelayus called the Khalif a dog to
his face. St. Isaac, not content with heaping abuse on
Mohammed, grossly insulted the Grand Kadi of Cor-
dova. Such offences were capital under the law, and
admitted of neither extenuation nor pardon.
At first, the magistrates, moved by astonishment
Moorish Empire in Europe 205
and compassion, refused to condemn persons whose
actions seemed attributable only to intoxication or
insanity. But the deluded wretches would accept no
indulgence. Thrown into prison, they continued their
revilings. Their spurious zeal, mistaken constancy,
and self-inflicted tortures produced many imitators.
Their cells became places of pilgrimage. From them
each day went forth new candidates for pious consid-
eration, fresh victims for the executioner. Some were
hanged, others beheaded. Not a few were burned at
the stake and their ashes cast into the river. The bitter
feelings engendered by religious controversy were not
confined to Mohammedans. The ties of blood seemed
for a time forgotten or ignored. The hiding-places
of the accused were revealed by their own kindred.
Brothers and sisters denounced each other for the sake
of the property they might inherit. But the punish-
ment only aggravated the evil. The number of
martyrs constantly multiplied. A great many of these
came from the laity. Youths of tender age excited the
wonder and admiration of the devout by the boldness
of their utterances and the unflinching courage with
which they met their fate. Delicate women walked
barefoot for leagues, nominally to share the glory of
dying for the Faith, in reality to solicit the infliction
of the extreme penalty of violated law.
The contagion of example spread fast through the
Christian community of Cordova. No distinction was
now so honorable as to stand in the foremost rank of
the blasphemers of the Prophet. In this pious and
meritorious performance, the secular clergy were,
however, not conspicuous. Their lives were entirely
too precious to be endangered so long as members of
their flocks were eager to demonstrate their willing-
ness to die for a perverted religious principle, involv-
ing an unprovoked breach of the contract from which
they derived security of worship, life, and property.
206 History of the
In secret, they promoted the increasing madness by
prayer and vehement exhortation. The impulse to
the spirit of spontaneous martyrdom was not a little
stimulated by the honors paid to the victims. Inde-
pendent of both Roman and Asturian influence, the
Andalusian hierarchy conferred without delay the
distinction of canonization upon each aspirant for
celestial glory. Their remains were conveyed to the
churches, where they at once began to disclose their
supernatural powers by response to prayer, by the
cure of disease, by the working of portentous and
astonishing miracles.
The Moslem authorities were appalled by the
strange conduct of their tributaries, insensible alike
to the inducement of clemency or the dread of pun-
ishment. In the hope of abating the evil by summary
measures, Abd-al-Rahman II. authorized, by public
edict, any one to kill on the instant a Christian who
was guilty of blasphemy. This decree, while not fully
accomplishing its object, lessened the number of ap-
plicants for martyrdom and produced a great increase
of apostates and fugitives.
But the mania which impelled the most fanatical to
self-sacrifice was far from infecting the entire Chris-
tian population of the capital. There were many who
looked with disapproval upon a course which must
eventually result in the oppression of their sect, in the
increase of its burdens, in the curtailment of its privi-
leges. They foresaw that the acts of a few irrespon-
sible individuals would ere long be regarded by the
Moslem government as the authorized policy of the
Church. Many Christians held office under the ad-
muiistration. It was only a question of time, if these
disturbances continued, when they would be dismissed
from their employments. The klialifate was then at
the height of its power. If an uprising provoked by
the clergy should occur, as seemed not improbable, the
Moorish Empire in Europe 207
entire tributary sect might be exterminated; and, in-
deed, this measure had already been vehemently urged
by the intolerant African marabouts. In any event,
there would be arbitrary taxation, confiscation, vio-
lence, exile. In their extremity, the more sober-
minded of the Christians petitioned the Khalif to
summon a council, whose decision might be authori-
tative and final in determining the duty of the people
in the present emergency.
All the prelates in the jurisdiction of the khalif ate
were accordingly convoked. Abd-al-Rahman ap-
pointed as his representative an official named Gomez,
prominent in the administration, nominally attached to
the Christian communion, but of suspicious morals and
of more than suspicious orthodoxy. He was a man of
fine education, conspicuous talents, polished manners,
insufferable pride, and enormous wealth. The head
of the faction which had, in vain, endeavored to check
the increasing disposition to martyrdom which men-
aced the destruction of his sect, he had incurred the
unmeasured hatred of the clergy. Realizing fully
the fatal consequences of the insane acts of his co-
religionists if unrestrained, his interest concurred with
his inclination to repress the dangerous manifesta-
tions of their intemperate zeal before it became too
late.
With great ability and eloquence he presented his
views to the council. The assembled prelates, awed
by the government and possessing little sympathy for
those who were destroying the credit of their order,
were not disinclined to condemn these fanatical sui-
cides. But here a serious difficulty arose. The
martyrs had been canonized. Their relics had already
demonstrated their sanctity by the production of
miracles. Their bodies were enshrined in the shadow
of the altar; their deeds and their sufferings were
now a part of the history of the Church. It was there-
208 History of the
fore manifestly impolitic, as well as sacrilegious, to
attempt to deprive them of the rank in the celestial
hierarchy which had been conferred by the infallible
wisdom of God. A middle com'se was possible. The
council, silent upon past martyrdoms, prohibited them
in the future. Like all temporizing measures intended
to correct deeply rooted abuses, this evasion of the
issue left matters worse than before. The extremists,
headed by St. Eulogius, declared that the real senti-
ment of the council manifestly ran counter to the one
it expressed, as it did not pronounce deserving of
censure the acts of those who had suffered for the
Faith. The priests continued to arouse the zeal of
their misguided parishioners ; enthusiasts continued to
outrage the sanctity of the mosques and the dignity
of the tribunals, and the executions went relentlessly
on. Recafred, Archbishop of Cordova, exasperated
by the contempt with which the decree of the council
had been received, heartily co-operated with the Mos-
lems in the punishment of the offenders, now under
the ban of both the government and the Church.
Many recalcitrant priests were seized and thrown into
prison. Others eluded with the greatest difficulty the
search of the authorities. Among the latter was St.
Eulogius, with whom, as well as with many of his holy
brethren, the merits of martyrdom seemed most glori-
ous when obtained by the sufferings of others. These
vigorous measures filled the souls of the elect with
terror. A few escaped to the Asturias. A consider-
able number, including some who had been loudest in
their praise of the saints and apparently most eager
to emulate their example, apostatized.
The so-called persecution, begun under Abd-al-
Rahman II. and continued under Mohammed, lasted
eight years. The works of contemporaneous ecclesi-
astical writers conclusively establish the fact that it
was provoked by the violence of the Christians them-
MooEisH Empire in Europe 209
selves. It is apparent from the same authorities that
its effects and importance were grossly exaggerated.
The Memorial of the Saints, by Eulogius, the last
and most eminent of the alleged victims of Moslem
tyranny, contains the names of comparatively few
martyrs. But forty-four are mentioned by the erudite
historian Florez, whose diligent industry has collated
the voluminous records bearing upon the hagiology of
that time, as having been executed at Cordova. Sev-
eral of these were women, between whom and their
male companions in suffering and glory, the pious
chronicler naively declares, " mysterious affinities"
existed.
With the dechne of the empire, the prevalence of
anarchy, and the ascendency of the Berbers, the con-
dition of the Spanish Christians became more and
more distressing. The suspension of the laws afforded
every facility for their oppression. Their churches
were torn down. Their property was confiscated.
The descendants of the partisans of Ibn-Hafsun
maintained a correspondence with the Castilian enemy.
Alfonso of Aragon traversed the Peninsula from the
Ebro to the sea, at the invitation of the Mozarabes of
Granada. Ten thousand of the latter attended him in
his retreat. The vengeance exacted of their treacher-
ous vassals by the Moors of that kingdom was terrible.
The expedition was productive of not less unhappy
results at Cordova. Nearly every church was de-
stroyed, the Christians were tortured, despoiled of
their possessions, and deported in a body to Africa.
At the beginning of the twelfth century, the mis-
fortunes of the maltreated sectaries had reached their
culmination. The Almohades, when not dominated
by the marabouts, were inclined to be tolerant. The
Arab chronicles which treat of the Moorish principali-
ties do not mention the subject of persecution, and no
Christian records of that time have been preserved.
Vol. III. 14
210 History of the
The Mozarabes of the kingdom of Granada enjoyed
the largest liberty. In Sicily, during the entire period
of Moslem supremacy, martyrdoms were exceedingly
rare.
Considering the widely extended apostasy which
followed the Arab conquest, it is remarkable, if viewed
only from a worldly stand-point, that the entire Chris-
tian population of the Peninsula did not become Mo-
hammedan. There is no doubt that those who re-
mained consistently steadfast in the faith were in a
decided minority. No inconsiderable number of prose-
lytes was recruited from the patrician class. Among
the great body of serfs and slaves, there were few who
were not willing to renounce their religion for the
certain enjoyment of liberty and the flattering pros-
pect of future ease or distinction. The mass of the
tributaries of the province of Seville had earl}^ aban-
doned the Christian communion, and during the reign
of Abd-al-Rahman II. a magnificent mosque was built
for their especial accommodation. The majority of
the prisoners taken in war embraced without hesitation
the doctrines of Islam. Leaving out of consideration
the influence of that Divine Power which must have
preserved its servants under the severest trials, cir-
cumstances of a political or social character may have
arisen to prevent the wholesale apostasy of a nation.
And such was indeed the case. The treatment to
which the renegades were subjected is a single instance
of many, most important in determining the causes of
the decline of proselytism. In this class, the f reedmen
largely preponderated in numbers. Notwithstanding
the nominal equality of the renegade granted by his
former masters in the beginning, this equality was
now never conceded. The stigma of servitude which
attached to the majority became the unjust reproach
of the caste. While many were sincere in their be-
lief, others took small pains to disguise the interested
Moorish Empire in Europe 211
motives which had prompted their conversion. The
knowledge of this fact impelled the Moslems to treat
all converts with the greatest indignity. They were
publicly insulted. Opprobrious epithets were heaped
upon them. Even those whose ancestors had ranked
with the most distinguished of the Gothic aristocracy
were not exempt from the sneers of the Mussulman
rabble. Possession of vast wealth, reputation for
genius, taste, or learning, aiForded no immunity from
outrage by the vilest of mankind. It was rare that a
renegade, no matter how conspicuous his abilities, ob-
tained a responsible office in the government. Even
the Christian stood a far better chance of official pro-
motion by the followers of the Prophet than the recent
proselyte to Islam. It was not in the nature of a
numerous and powerful caste, smarting under un-
merited humiliation and conscious of its strength, to
calmly submit to such injustice. Nor was it long be-
fore this destructive policy, which, like many of the
evils that afflicted the Mussulman domination, had its
origin in Arab pride, produced momentous political
results. It encouraged treasonable correspondence
with the Christians of the North. It raised up spies
in every community. It provoked the bloody revolt
of the southern suburb of Cordova during the reign
of Al-Hakem I. It recruited the armies of Ibn-Haf-
sun, who for thirty years defied the power of the khali-
fate. The renegades, who outnumbered all other
classes combined, lacked only organization and leader-
ship to have driven their haughty oppressors into the
sea. When the power of the Arab faction was de-
stroyed, their condition was improved, but the ardor
of proselytism had vanished. Such experiences tended
rather to confirm than to weaken the faith of the hesi-
tating.
Other causes contributed to the prevalent apathy.
The semi-theocratical character of the Moslem consti-
212 History of the
tution implied to all believers the active exertion of
supernatural power. The head of the government was
at the same time the Successor and the Representative
of the Prophet. A system which claims divine supe-
riority should by all means be free from turmoil, from
vices, from schism; its infallibility should be demon-
strated by the pre-eminent wisdom of its decrees; its
banners should never be lowered. Yet Islam was rent
by faction and controversy. Rival princes, on every
side, asserted their conflicting pretensions. In the con-
fusion of warring sects, it was always impossible to
distinguish the heretic from the orthodox. The Mus-
sulman armies had often retired in disgrace from
before the half-savage and ill-equipped Asturian
mountaineers. Tried by the standards of mediaeval
ignorance, standards founded upon unity of purpose
and invincibility in war, Islamism was no better than
the creeds it had supplanted.
Again, the results of Moslem civilization, whose
benefits were apparent to the least discerning, were
not derived from the efforts of the devout. The
theologians, without exception, were obstructionists.
They decried learning. They denounced philosophy.
To them the elegant pursuits of literature were an
abomination. As a rule, they had nothing in common
with the scholars of Cordova, renowned for their wit,
their politeness, their culture. Their persons were
neglected, their manners uncouth, their language
coarse, ungrammatical, and insolent. In their opinion
a madman was inspired, and a scientific instrument a
device of Satan.
Not so, however, with the eminent instructors who
directed the public mind of the nation, who imparted
knowledge to eager pilgrims from foreign lands. It
was to their lectures that the young Christians de-
lighted to repair. There was no subject on which they
were not competent to discourse ; no topic which they
Moorish Empire in Europe 213
did not elucidate with their learning and adorn with
their eloquence. They were, almost to a man, what
would be called in our day agnostics. Some were
acknowledged atheists. Others inclined to the Pan-
theism of India. None mentioned without a contemp-
tuous smile the celestial origin of the Koran or the
claims of the Prophet to divine inspiration.
The University of Cordova was the seat of the lit-
erary faction whose influence was long paramount in
the empire. Although its exercises were sometimes
held in the Great Mosque, it had no sympathy with
rehgion or its ministers. Its infidel teachings had for
generations been the reproach of the pious f aquis and
the abhorrence of the Catholic clergy. Its doors were
open to the studious of every race; its honors were
bestowed upon the meritorious scholar, without regard
to his belief or his ancestry. In its great library, the
Mussulman, the Christian, the Buddliist, and the Jew
pursued their researches in generous rivalry or friendly
co-operation.
Under such unfavorable circumstances, it is not sur-
prising that the conversion of Christians to Islamism
was permanently arrested. Outrages upon proselytes,
frequent insurrections, confusion of doctrines, vul-
garity of theologians, infidelity of those best qualified
to determine the value of established opinions, and
the unrestricted enjoyment of educational facilities
were serious impediments, rather than incentives, to a
change of religious belief.
The fierce hostility that has always been manifested
by the ApostoHc Church against every kind of pro-
fane learning the outgrowth of the tremendous
power successfully exerted for many centuries to
degrade the mind, to pervert the understanding, to
dwarf the noble faculty of reason had no terrors
for the more enlightened part of the Christian popu-
lation of the khalifate. There, in the presence of the
214 History of the
unrivalled achievements of Moslem genius, the stern
intolerance of Patristicism could not stand before the
liberal policy of Islam and the daily application of the
lofty sentiment of its Prophet, " Whoso pursues the
road of knowledge, God will direct him to the road
of Paradise. Verily, the superiority of a learned man
over a mere worshipper is like that of the full moon
over all the stars!" The exhibition of universal
charity, of broad philanthropy, of educational advan-
tages impartially bestowed, as contrasted mth the
narrow maxims of their own communion; the over-
whelming superiority of Mussulman civilization; the
powerful influence of daily intercourse and example ;
the prodigious augmentation of commercial prosperity
and worldly grandeur ; the alluring prospect of carnal
pleasures, while they might not conduce to prosely-
tism, nevertheless undermined the faith and constancy
of the Christian youth.
The teachings of the philosophers of Cordova were
not propitious to the maintenance of either established
dogma or ecclesiastical superiority; and the clergy
saw, with undisguised dismay, the growing prevalence
of lukewarmness and skepticism. The predominance
of the Spanish Arabs in every branch of literary cul-
ture, their eminent success in arms, their intelligence,
their valor, their courtesy, the seductive power of
their splendor and their opulence had far more effect
upon the minds of the rising generation of Christians
than the delusive promises and impotent anathemas
proclaimed every week from a thousand pulpits. And,
indeed, the contrast presented by the two rival re-
ligions was most striking to the unprejudiced seeker
after truth. On the one hand was the church, with
its resounding vaults and its gloomy and sepulchral
crypt ; the monastery, with its privations ; the reliqua-
ries, with their offensive hoards of withered flesh and
mouldering bones; the inconsistencies of a system
Moorish Empire in Europe 215
which inculcated charity and commanded persecution ;
the inexorable tyranny of the priesthood; the sys-
tematic discouragement of learning; the confessional
with its enforced revelation of secrets; the mass with
its monotonous services and its ritual in an unknown
tongue; the penance with its sufferings and humilia-
tion. On the other hand rose the mosque, light, airy,
beautiful; its graceful minaret pointing towards the
heavens; its court shaded by palm- and orange-trees,
redolent with the mingled fragrance of a thousand
exotics, musical with the plashing of crystal waters;
its walls covered with a maze of intricate and brilliant
stuccoes ; its ceiling emblazoned with the golden texts
of the Koran; its sanctuary sparkling with mosaics,
whose exquisite tracery rivalled the fabled creations
of the genii; the sermon, intelligible to the most
humble and untutored listener; the prayer, remark-
able for earnestness, simplicity, reverence. On this
side were exhibited the factitious virtues and revolt-
ing license inseparable from the unnatural condition
of celibacy; the sacrifice of every diversion that ren-
ders health attainable or existence attractive; the
morose austerity of monastic solitude; the ill-con-
cealed excesses by which human nature attempts to
indemnify itself for the restraints imposed by organ-
ized hypocrisy; the solicited martyrdom of the half-
crazed zealot; the savage pursuit of infidels and
schismatics; the sanctified example of ecclesiastical
ignorance, moral abasement, and physical impurity.
On the other were the delights of the harem; the
physical and mental vigor derived from constant
exercise of the muscular system and the intellectual
faculties; the benefits arising from the practice of
frequent ablution; the palatial appointments of the
public bath; the innumerable conveniences invented
or adopted by a society ever alert to grasp every new
idea, to profit by every past experience; the advan-
216 History of the
tages of a method of education unparalleled in excel-
lence and unapproached by even the wisest teachers
of antiquity; the vast libraries, filled with the stores
of ancient learning; the lectures of the lyceum; the
curious experiments of scientific observers ; the enter-
taining scenes of social festivity; the animated dis-
putations of learned assemblies.
The jurisprudence of the orthodox believer was
basely subservient to the claims of superstition. His
cause was determined by the uncertain results of ju-
dicial combat, by the oaths of prejudiced compurga-
tors, by the frivolous ordeals of water and fire. The
sectary of Mohammed was tried by the kadi, a magis-
trate governed by established principles of law, and
bound by religious as well as by temporal considera-
tions to an impartial administration of justice.
When a Christian became ill, attempts were made
to exorcise the evil spirit to which his sufferings were
attributed by binding him to the altar, by the invoca-
tion of saints, by the application of relics and conse-
crated amulets. The Moslem was conveyed to the
hospital provided and maintained by royal benefi-
cence; the cause of his complaint was ascertained;
and during his stay he received gratuitously the assid-
uous attentions of the nurse and the intelligent care
of the surgeon.
While the priest-ridden peasantry of the Pyrenees
and the Rhone denounced the Saracen as a foe of God
and a scourge to humanity, the Christian who lived
in security under his government, enjoyed his favor,
shared his hospitality, profited by his instruction, knew
but too well the calumny of these assertions, and that
their maligned object exhibited upon occasion all the
noble attributes of a faithful friend and a brave and
chivalrous enemy. The dissensions of the Arabs, and
their ungenerous treatment of those who voluntarily
embraced their faith, were largely instrumental in pre-
Moorish Empire in Europe 217
venting the amalgamation of races, even then far on
the way towards accompHshment. Had not these
causes intervened, only a few centuries would prob-
ably have elapsed before the subject nation, already
closely united with the predominant caste by the bonds
of marriage, consanguinity, and interest, by intimate
mercantile associations, by the powerful influence of
habits, education, and language, might have become
thoroughly Mohammedanized. As it was, a greater
affinity always existed between the Christian vassals
of the Spanish khalifs and their lords than between
the members of the several factions of the Arabs
themselves, whose inextinguishable hatred, the fruit
of coimtless generations of hostility, eventually com-
passed the destruction of their empire.
218 History of the
CHAPTER XXVI
THE MORISCOES
1492-1609
State of the Kingdom after the Conquest Superiority of the
Moors Policy of the Crown Introduction of the Holy
Office Administration of Talavera His Popularity He is
superseded by Ximenes The Two Great Spanish Cardinals
Their Opposite Characters Influence on Their Age
Violence of Ximenes He burns the Arabic Manuscripts
Insurrection of the Moriscoes Rout in the Sierra Bermeja
Bigotry of Isabella The Moors under Charles V.
Persecution by the Clergy and the Inquisition under Philip
II. War in the Alp uj arras Ibn-Ommeyah Operations of
Don John of Austria Removal of the Moors of Granada
Death of Ibn-Ommeyah Ibn-Abu becomes King Siege of
Galera Atrocities of the Campaign Fate of Ibn-Abu
Condition of the Moriscoes in Spain They are Exiled by
Philip III. Their Sufferings Effect of their Banishment
upon the Prosperity of the Kingdom.
The close of the Reconquest left the Spanish mon-
archy in a condition of physical and financial collapse.
The maintenance of a great army for ten years, with
the resultant casualties of battle, exposure, and dis-
ease, had sensibly diminished the population. The
treasury had long been depleted. The Queen had
pawned her jewels to the bankers of Valencia and
Barcelona. Wealthy subjects had been induced to
advance funds to the government by methods equiva-
lent to confiscation, and which held out but slender
hopes of ultimate reimbursement. National credit
was practically destroyed. The absence of the more
industrious citizens in military service, the incorrigible
idleness of those who remained, had impaired the pur-
suit of agriculture, upon which the resources of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 219
kingdom depended. Had it not been for the taxes
and extraordinary contributions levied upon the Jew-
ish and Moslem tributaries, the war could not have
been prosecuted to a successful conclusion. These
two sects, which occupied an anomalous position in the
body politic, numbered over two million. Although
so inferior in numbers, they engrossed the trade and
controlled the personal property of the Peninsula.
The Jew, who practised with enormous profit the con-
genial but unpopular profession of usury, converted
his gains into money and jewels. The Mudejar, who,
after the Conquest, gave place to the Morisco, mind-
ful of the Koranic precept which inculcates industry
as a virtue and stigmatizes idleness as a crime, was the
most laborious and successful of agriculturists, the
most skilful of artisans. Representatives of these
two classes directed the operations of the largest mer-
cantile houses in the principal cities, and the commerce
of the entire country was practically in their hands.
Their prosperity was regarded with an evil eye by
their Castilian masters, and the Moslem was espe-
cially the object of this animadversion. For genera-
tions the former had pursued the glorious but brutal-
izing calling of arms. With them, every occupation
that implied or necessitated the performance of man-
ual labor was considered undignified and degrading.
Centuries of unremitting warfare had impressed upon
the whole nation a military character, with its inevi-
table concomitants of pride, tyranny, and insolence;
and these sentiments were intensified a hundred-fold
by racial hatred and sectarian prejudice. From the
earliest times the Moors had been regarded as inter-
lopers, scarcely entitled to the ordinarily indisputable
rights of conquest. The acquisition of their domain
by Spanish prowess was always considered as the re-
covery of former inalienable possession, not as new
territory wrested from an adversary by dint of supe-
220 History of the
rior strength and valor. The estabhshment of the
Cathohc faith was, in the opinion of adroit casuists,
an additional argument in favor of their title, for it
was held that the consecration of altars to Christianity-
conferred rights which could never be abrogated
through occupation by infidels. With the inconsist-
ency of ignorance, the Castilians asserted their title
both by inheritance and prescription. They forgot
that Spain had ever been the rich prize for which
almost every warlike nation of the ancient world had
contended. The Visigoths overran and ravaged it in
the fifth century, and their occupancy, derived solely
from conquest, lasted three hundred years. Then
came the Saracens, whose domination, obtained in pre-
cisely the same manner, required about the same
length of time for the conquest, but endured for more
than twice as long. It was evident, therefore, to
every mind not obscured by prejudice, that the title
of the Moslems, even from the Spanish point of view,
was better than that of their conquerors. In more
than one respect, indeed, had the followers of Moham-
med claims upon the country of their adoption as well
as upon the gratitude and admiration of mankind.
Their industry and enterprise had developed beyond
all precedent the wonderful resources of the Penin-
sula. Its prosperity had never been so great, its peo-
ple so happy, its sovereigns so renowned, as at the
meridian of the Moslem power. In intellectual at-
tainments, and the skilful adaptation of scientific
principles to the practical affairs of life, the subjects
of the khalifate far surpassed all their contempo-
raries. The civilization if it is worthy of the name
which the Saracens overthrew was infinitely inferior
to the one that they created. The Visigoths had
scarcely emerged from barbarism. Their monarchs
attempted to emulate, in their magnificence and lux-
ury, the brilliant court of the Eastern Empire, and to
Moorish Empire in Europe 221
supply, by the splendor and richness of the materials,
the glaring deficiencies in skill and workmanship
which characterized the productions of their artisans.
They never discarded the savage customs engendered
and perpetuated by ages of violence and injustice.
Sedentary and industrial occupations were repugnant
to the genius of a people whose national traditions
from time immemorial had breathed a spirit of trucu-
lence and war. And yet, even in their chosen field,
they at once demonstrated their inferiority to an
enemy who had hardly completed his apprenticeship
in arms.
After the Conquest, the insignificant number of
Christians saved by the inaccessible fastnesses of the
Asturias from Mohammedan subjection had little left
but their swords and their independence. Their pre-
vious habits had unfitted them for labor. The ungen-
erous nature of the soil and the severity of the climate
offered few inducements for tillage. They had,
therefore, no resource but war by which to maintain
their existence and repair their broken fortunes.
Their children were reared in ignorance and under
conditions favorable to the development of the highest
degree of ferocity and fanaticism. They were
taught to regard their enemies as monsters, unworthy
of the name and attributes of humanity, and having
nothing in common with the remainder of mankind
but an erect form and the capacity of speech. In the
course of time, greater familiarity with their adver-
saries insensibly produced a change of feeling, and
many of these absurd and unjust prejudices were
modified or entirely discarded. Numerous Moham-
medan customs were adopted, especially by the nobil-
ity of Castile, whose inherent profligacy especially in-
clined them to the forbidden and unorthodox license
of the seraglio. Moslem kings were not infrequently
appointed arbiters of disputes between Christian
222 History of the
princes of the blood. In arms, in manners, in cos-
tume, in amusements, the despised infidel furnished
models to the proud and boorish descendants of Pe-
layus and his mountaineers. Even the language was
contaminated. Thousands of terms familiar to the
reader of the Koran were incorporated unchanged
into its comprehensive vocabulary, and the noble and
sonorous Castilian idiom remains to-day almost one-
third Arabic. The system of warfare, the evolutions
of cavalry, the adoption of lighter armor, all exhibited
the effect of the pervading Moorish influence. Archi-
tects from Granada were employed by Castilian mon-
archs in the construction of palaces, and even by or-
thodox prelates in the ornamentation of cathedrals.
It was the custom of many sovereigns in those turbu-
lent times to intrust their safety to a body-guard of
Saracen mercenaries, who could neither be intimidated
nor corrupted. The honors paid to deceased Cas-
tilian royalty by the Moslems were not inferior to
those with which the obsequies of the greatest emirs
were celebrated. The court of Granada went into
mourning for Ferdinand III., and a guard of Moor-
ish nobles escorted his remains to the tomb. Henry
IV. gave audience to ambassadors seated upon a divan
and supported by cushions, in the traditional Saracen
fashion. The tilt of reeds and the bull-fight, the ex-
ercises of the grand arena, which, requiring the great-
est address and agility, were so popular with the
Spanish chivalry, superseded the ruder and more
dangerous exhibitions of the tournament. In innu-
merable examples, in every phase of the public and
domestic life of the Christians, the influence of
Mohammedan association was manifested. It is a
curious fact, as already stated, that, in spite of this,
the deep-seated prejudices of the two races, so far
from being eradicated, were scarcely even perceptibly
modified. Notwithstanding intermarriages, the for-
Moorish Empire in Europe 223
mal and elaborate display of public courtesy, the fre-
quency of appeals to royal arbitration, the adoption
of official ceremonials by one people, the voluntary
solicitation of protection by the other, all appearances
of amity were fallacious, and a feeling of irrecon-
cilable hostility constantly prevailed between the two
races. Both reduced their prisoners to slavery, a con-
dition which generally imphed the most inhmnan
treatment. The captives taken by the Castilians were
branded upon the forehead, a mark of degradation
which could never be erased; the slaves of the Mos-
lems were confined in damp and unwholesome dun-
geons, and compelled to labor daily in the construction
of mosques and fortifications. It was no unusual oc-
currence, when a place had provoked the animosity of
either by an obstinate resistance, for the entire popu-
lation, irrespective of age or sex, to be ruthlessly put
to the sword. In the heat of conflict, quarter was sel-
dom expected. Despite the omnipresent and irre-
futable evidences of superior knowledge, refinement,
and culture, the arrogant and conceited Castilians
always stigmatized their adversaries as barbarians.
With them, implicit belief in and attachment to the
Roman Catholic faith was the infallible touchstone
of civilization. Whatever they did not understand
they attributed to magic. The mysterious accents of
the Arabic language, and the intricate manner in
which its characters were combined in the inscriptions
which adorned the public edifices, aroused in the minds
of the ignorant suspicions of sorcery, with its accom-
paniments of talismans, amulets, charms, and incan-
tations. The magnificent architectural works of Arab
genius were attributed to infernal agency, as beyond
the efforts of unaided human power; an opinion still
entertained by the Spanish peasantry, who not only
firmly believe that the Moslem palaces were con-
structed by evil spirits, but also ascribe the origin of
224 History of the
the gigantic, and apparently eternal, monuments of
classic antiquity to the hands of the devil himself.
Besides the inveterate prejudices arising from an-
tagonistic faiths and protracted warfare, other cir-
cumstances intervened to preclude the fusion of the
two races after the Conquest. The Spaniard, with
characteristic pride, asserted the superiority and pre-
dominance of his race and origin, and the slightest
suspicion of Moorish blood constituted a blemish
which no political or militarj'^ distinction was ever able
to eradicate. The industry of the Mudejares, their
frugality, their clannishness, the seclusion of their
women, aroused unfavorable comment among a peo-
ple whose prejudices associated these practices with
the name of an hereditary and implacable enemy. It
had long been a subject of universal complaint that
the larger proportion of the wealth of the kingdom
was possessed by these unpopular tributaries. The
idle Castilian, whose ancestors had for twenty-three
generations subsisted by rapine, could not regard with
indifference the plodding industry that conferred
upon a subjugated and misbelieving race those sub-
stantial benefits which he had always been taught to
regard as the birthright of a Christian. It was also
publicly stated, to the prejudice of the tributary
Moors, that even when they renounced their faith they
still adhered to their former laborious habits; that
none of them ever entered convents or monasteries;
and that their contributions to the Church were not
of the value to be expected from the zeal and generos-
ity of sincere proselytes. Their conversion did not
bring with it that indulgence and those privileges to
which their ghostly instructors assured them they
would be entitled; it did not even confer immunity
from insult. Until the reign of Henry II. the Mude-
jares were exempt from the inconvenience of wearing
a distinctive mark indicative of their social condition,
Moorish Empire in Europe 225
which, long before imposed upon the Jews, was justly
considered a badge of ignominy. After that time,
however, they were required to wear upon their caps
and turbans a blue crescent "of the size of an orange,"
which constantly brought upon them the affronts of
children, and not infrequently the taunts and violence
of a fanatical populace. In spite of the serious re-
strictions imposed upon the Mudejares, and the enor-
mous contributions levied upon their industry, they
continued to prosper, and at the time of the surrender
of Granada they were the most valuable subjects of
the Spanish Crown. Policy, based upon a sense of
weakness, had long repressed the avarice and envy of
the Castilian sovereigns in their relations with a class
whose skill and labor were the principal sources of the
opulence of the realm. The time had now come when
all restraint could be cast aside without danger, and
royal aggression, not only sanctioned but suggested
and encouraged by ecclesiastical authority, could vio-
late every obligation, human and divine, that had been
entered into with a conquered people, whose principal
crime was their prosperity, and whose independence
had been voluntarily relinquished under solemn
treaties which had absolutely guaranteed their per-
sonal safety and the unmolested exercise of their civil
and religious rights and privileges. A most pernicious
maxim, but one entirely consonant with the prevailing
sentiments of the age, had been recently adopted,
and declared by the highest ecclesiastical authority
susceptible of unHmited application. This was that,
the original conquest of the Peninsula by the Moors
partaking of the nature of an usurpation, or rather
of a theft obtained by violence, all treaties or engage-
ments entered into with the descendants of the in-
vaders were valid only so long as the Christians chose
to observe them, as having been dictated by necessity
and contracted with persons outside the pale of the
Vol. III. 15
226 History of the
law. The peculiar casuistry, which deduced from
Biblical precedent and the exterminating wars of the
Jews analogies whose application wrought such havoc
among the conquered nations of Spain and the New
World, found no difficulty in the acceptation of the
broader, and consequently even more atrocious, prin-
ciple that no faith whatever was to be kept with in-
fidels. Ecclesiastical ingenuity has never invented
more potent weapons for the attainment of absolu-
tism than these two maxims, which, rigorously ap-
plied, demonstrated their temporary and apparent
efficacy by the utter extermination of millions of
nominal enemies of the Spanish monarchy.
By the union of Castile and Aragon and the Con-
quest of Granada national unity had been secured;
it now remained to place the religious establishment
of the kingdom upon the same advantageous footing.
The Inquisition, an engine of tremendous power,
whose operations were attended by the most gratify-
ing results, had, for more than two centuries, been
employed in subduing recalcitrant heretics, procuring
conversions, and replenishing the exhausted coffers
of Church and State. First introduced into Aragon
from France, its efforts were mainly directed against
the Jews, whose wealth had brought upon them a con-
venient suspicion of heresy. The main objects of the
Inquisition were in reality secular and political. That
hideous institution aimed at the establishment of un-
questioned sovereignty by the instruments of perse-
cution. Religious dogmas, while nominally of vital
importance in its procedure, were but pretexts by
which the clergy, and indirectly the orthodox monarch,
profited in the acquirement and consolidation of irre-
sponsible authority. The stiffing of human thought,
the suppression of every branch of knowledge, the
prohibition of the exercise of private judgment, the
infinite multiplication of offences against religion, the
Moorish Empire in Europe 227
minute gradation of penances, many of them of bar-
barous and incredible severity, were all means to the
accomplishment of one base and ignoble end. The
theological aspect of the Inquisition has engrossed the
attention of historians to the exclusion of its genuine
but concealed objects. That the punishment of heresy
was not the real mission of its tribunal is proved by
the fact that its sentences were frequently suspended,
commuted, or abrogated by the sovereign, conditional
on the payment of money. The rich were the especial
objects of its hostility; the denunciation of a wealthy
person was equivalent to conviction ; and if a Hebrew
or a Moslem, he could hardly escape the extreme pen-
alty. The mystery of its organization, its unexpected
arrests, its secret procedure, its frightful dungeons,
the fiendish cruelty of the tortures it inflicted, and the
atrocities of its public exhibitions which partook of
the nature of religious festivals, and, with shocking
inconsistency, were supposed to be devoted to popular
recreation struck terror into every community and
every family.
The successful prosecution of heresy by the Inquisi-
tion, as well as the financial advantages it promised,
and the increase of ecclesiastical and royal power
which followed its estabhshment, appealed forcibly
to the bigoted and arbitrary mind of the Spanish
Queen. Not so, however, with Ferdinand, whose ex-
perience with that dread tribunal had caused him to
regard its operations with disfavor, and who had ren-
dered his orthodoxy liable to suspicion by intrusting
to Jewish bankers the administration of the finances
of the Crown of Aragon. His remonstrances were,
however, unheeded by his obstinate and despotic con-
sort. The Kingdom of Castile had alwaj^s enjoyed
an unquestioned preponderance of authority and pres-
tige in the affairs of the Peninsula. The compact
which consolidated the two great realms into one em-
228 History of the
pire expressly conferred upon Isabella the exclusive
control of all matters relating to ecclesiastical juris-
diction. The right of presentation to benefices long
asserted by Castilian princes as a royal prerogative,
and whose exercise, denounced by the Papacy as an
usurpation, had repeatedly brought upon them the
censures of the Holy See invested the Queen with a
power of vast and indefinable extent over the mem-
bers of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, who owed their
offices to her generosity, and whose revenues were
largely dispensed in accordance with her advice. Her
policy and her apparent interest induced her, there-
fore, to consent to the introduction of the Holy Office ;
and its tribunal was established at Cordova, under the
direction of Tomas de Torquemada, first Inquisitor-
General of the kingdom, a name of awful prominence
in the history of Spanish persecution.
The capitulation of Granada had been concluded
with every indication of sincerity, and with the most
solemn assurances with which it is possible to invest
the provisions and confirm the faith of treaties. The
unsuspecting Moslems did not long remain in igno-
rance of the duplicity of their conquerors. Excesses
were publicly committed by licentious cavaliers, who,
instead of undergoing the penalty of death adjudged
for such offences, escaped with a gentle reprimand,
and were even conspicuously distinguished by the
favor of their royal mistress. The seclusion of domes-
tic life, so jealously guarded by Mohammedan cus-
tom, was unceremoniously invaded upon the most
frivolous pretexts by the rude and insolent soldiery.
The mosques, whose possession had been especially
guaranteed by the articles of the treaty, were one
after another seized and consecrated to the Christian
worship. For these flagrant breaches of trust, the
stupid and remorseless bigotry of Isabella was largely
responsible. The city had hardly passed into the
Moorish Empire in Europe 229
hands of the conquerors, before the advisability of
forcible conversion began to be seriously discussed,
and the Queen listened with pleasure to suggestions
of indiscriminate and compulsory baptism. The ef-
forts of priestly avarice and intolerance, secure in the
royal support, began to encroach more and more upon
the acknowledged rights of these unfortunate victims
of persecution, until a revolution broke out, which
threatened the integrity of the newly acquired domin-
ions, and required the entire resources of the kingdom
to suppress it. The government of Granada had been
left in the hands of three men, whose excellent quali-
fications, previous experience, and inborn sense of jus-
tice rendered them eminently qualified for the difficult
task to which they had been assigned. The famous
Count of Tendilla was appointed Captain-General of
the province. The interests of the Church were com-
mitted to Hernando de Talavera, Archbishop of Gra-
nada, a prelate in whose mind fanaticism never at-
tained predominance over the noble impulses which
assert the dignity of human nature ; and whose liber-
ality, rare in his age and profession, never refused
indulgence and compassion to those of different blood
or hostile faith. To these two representatives of royal
and ecclesiastical authority was added as an adviser,
and an interpreter of the treaty of capitulation, which
he himself had drafted, Hernando de Zaf ra, secretary
of the Catholic sovereigns, a man of talent, intelli-
gence, and spotless integrity, who enjoyed the confi-
dence of his superiors, and who, while conspicuously
devout, was far less tinctured with the prejudices of
the time than his theological education and previous
associations would seem to imply.
Under the administration of these three dignitaries,
the territory of Granada once more assumed an ap-
pearance of prosperity. Their probity won the confi-
dence of the Moors, which had been shaken by the
230 History of the
arbitrary and indefensible proceedings following the
surrender. The capital, fallen into neglect and decay
during years of insurrection and war, was repaired;
new streets were opened, sanitary regulations were
enforced, the markets were again crowded with
traders ; the Vega, long the scene of desolation, began
to blossom once more under the patient hands of the
industrious laborer. While a high sense of honor and
an unusual diplomatic tact obtained for the Count of
Tendilla the respect of his dependents, it was upon
the disposition of the Archbishop that the security of
the government and the pacification of the Moslems
principally depended. The fii'st great difficulty was,
in reality, not with the latter, but with the Christian
colonists, who had received, in recompense for real or
fictitious services, establishments in the city, and whose
licentious conduct provoked the animosity of the van-
quished, and rendered the streets unsafe at night for
w^ayfarers of every description.
The conduct of the Archbishop was beyond all
praise. He endeavored by every conceivable means
to improve the condition of his diocese, to revive de-
caying industry, and to promote the friendly relations
of the two races whose previous traditions made com-
plete fusion impossible. He dispensed at all times
the most unbounded and discerning charity. He
caused public works to be inaugurated, by which the
needy poor were provided with employment. His
apostolic zeal never stooped to the violence of perse-
cution; his appeals were made to reason alone; and
his subordinates, for the effectual performance of
their duties, were compelled to learn the Arabic lan-
guage, in which he himself, although far advanced in
years, became sufficiently proficient to employ it suc-
cessfully for the noble purposes of religious instruc-
tion. From the printing-presses, established by his
munificence, issued sumptuous volumes printed in
Moorish Empire in Europe 23l
Castilian and Arabic, whose perusal might not only
arouse the interest of old believer and recent prose-
lyte, but could not fail to alike confirm the faith and
facilitate the intercourse of both Christian and Mos-
lem. Under his direction schools were founded ; rit-
uals and works embodying the doctrines and discipline
of the Church translated; and regular conferences
organized, wherein, at stated intervals, the compara-
tive merits of the Christian and Mohammedan creeds
were publicly discussed by learned theologians of both
religions.
This excellent prelate, whose virtues are the more
conspicuous and admirable when contrasted with the
generally dissolute character of the ecclesiastics of the
Spanish court, voluntarily renounced the larger por-
tion of the emoluments of his office, reserving only
what was sufficient for his immediate necessities, and
dispensing with the pomp which the dignitaries of
the hierarchy were accustomed to assume in the ex-
ercise of their calling. Two hundred and fifty per-
sons shared daily the hospitality of his table; his
bounty was enjoyed ahke by officials of the highest
rank, by Moors of every degree, by pilgrims and trav-
ellers soliciting alms. In his visits to the sick and the
unfortunate he permanently impaired his health.
Recognizing the importance of a consistent example,
he instituted extensive reforms among the clergy.
Their luxury was repressed, their intemperate zeal
restrained, the systematic observance of their duties
compelled, and those vices which had long been the
scandal of the pious were either entirely checked, or,
driven from public view, were forced into seclusion
for their indulgence. In every possible manner he
attempted to relieve the oppressive burdens imposed
upon his parishioners by the fiscal regulations. His
notaries were forbidden to collect the fees, which
formed an important part of the revenues of the
232 History of the
archiepiscopal see. He interposed his authority to
prevent illegal and oppressive exactions by the tax-
collectors. In his sermons, and by the exertion of his
authority, he discouraged the practice of professional
mendicity, the scourge and the disgrace of both Cath-
olic and Mussulman countries.
With the secular and the ecclesiastical power vested
in the hands of such men as the Count of Tendilla and
Hernando de Talavera, the greatest results could not
fail of accomplishment. The manners of the Span-
iards were insensibly reformed. Such was the public
tranquillity, that a mere handful of soldiers sufficed
for the garrison of the Alhambra and the guard of
the captain-general. The pious and unselfish example
of the Archbishop soon bore fruit. Great numbers
of Moors voluntarily signified their desire to become
Christians. In one day three thousand were baptized,
not one of whom ever afterwards recanted. These
conversions were not obtained through suggestions of
temporal advantage or the influence of fear; nor were
the proselytes admitted to communion without pre-
vious instruction in the doctrines they were expected
to profess or the duties they would be required to per-
form. The affection and respect of the Moslems for
their instructor and friend were unbounded. They
called him the " Holy Faqui of the Christians." The
churches were found unable to accommodate the in-
creasing numbers of converts, and altars and pulpits
were erected in the three principal squares of the city ;
the nightly brawls excited by the turbulent soldiers of
fortune, domiciled by the Conquest in the Moorish
capital, became more and more infrequent; a sense
of security began to prevail in the community; the
relations of noble and vassal were modified, to the
decided advantage of the latter; ancient prejudices,
confirmed by the enmity of centuries, were softened;
and the political union of the two peoples, which could
Moorish Empire in Europe 233
only be effected by a just and conciliatory policy, and
upon which, in fact, depended the future prosperity
of the Peninsula, seemed at length to offer a flatter-
ing prospect of realization.
Under these favorable auspices, for the space of
several years, order, tranquillity, and contentment
reigned in Granada. The courteous and equitable,
but firm, administration of the governor; the blame-
less life, the humble piety, the sympathetic interest of
the Archbishop had awakened the love and compelled
the obedience of the tributary Moslems, who com-
pared with wonder and gratification the operation of
a system of kindness and justice with the arbitrary
and violent measures of the despotism to which they
had heretofore always been accustomed. During that
period many important and tragic events transpired.
Al-Zagal, oppressed with years and calamities and
broken in spirit, had gone into voluntary exile. Boab-
dil, by means of an ignoble and treacherous device,
whose adoption was alike unworthy of a monarch and
a Christian, had been deprived of the principality for
which he had bartered his crown and forced to retire
into Africa. Every important provision of the capit-
ulation had been repeatedly violated, and only the tact
of those who controlled the government of Granada
had prevented the most serious consequences. The
Jews, under circumstances of unspeakable cruelty,
had been expelled from the kingdom. In the hier-
archy changes had taken place which boded no good
to the heretic and the suspected apostate. Cardinal
Mendoza, Primate of Spain, had died, and Francisco
Ximenes de Cisneros, a Franciscan friar and the con-
fessor of the Queen, had been promoted to that ex-
alted dignity, whose power and emoluments rivalled
those of the crown. The life, the associations, the
studies of this man had developed a mind whose feel-
ings were in perfect accordance with the narrow and
234 History of the
intolerant spirit of the age. Without indulgence for
the inherent weakness of human nature, without pa-
tience to await the eiFect of the deliberate and rational
methods of discussion which promote religious convic-
tion, absolutely devoid of generosity, of tenderness, of
sympathy, he regarded unquestioning obedience to the
Church as the most imperative of all obligations and
mortification of the flesh as the most meritorious of
virtues. He had recently secured the appointment of
Diego de Deza, one of his creatures, to the place of
Inquisitor-General, which gave him absolute control
of the operations of the Holy Office.
The characters of the two great churchmen who in
succession dictated the policy of the crown, though
widely diff'erent in many respects, in general faith-
fully represent the prevalent ideas and aspirations of
every class of society in the kingdom. The aim of
both was religious unity, which during the long cru-
sade against the infidel had usurped the place and de-
preciated the worth of patriotism. Both governed the
sovereign, and with the sovereign the monarchy.
Both filled the highest ecclesiastical office in the Penin-
sula, an office second in dignity and power only to the
Papacy. Both were zealous patrons of the Inquisi-
tion. One recommended the expulsion of the Jews.
The other inaugurated the persecution of the Moris-
coes. Both commanded armies. Both founded insti-
tutions of learning. Both were regarded at Rome as
the most valuable servants of the Holy See. Here,
however, all resemblance ends. Mendoza belonged to
the haughtiest of the Castilian aristocracy; he traced
his lineage in a direct line to Roman patricians on one
side and to the Gothic Dukes of Cantabria on the
other ; the Cid was his ancestor, as were also the Lords
of Biscay; the blood of royalty coursed in his veins;
he was the cousin of Ferdinand and Isabella ; he was
nearly related to the princely house of Infantado,
Moorish Empire in Europe 235
whose duke took precedence of all Spanish grandees ;
more than seventy titles of nobility were in his family,
which was the first in the Peninsula and one of the
most celebrated in Europe.
Ximenes sprang from the people. His ancestry,
while respectable and deserving recognition as of the
hidalgo class, was not noble. He renounced his bap-
tismal name for that of the founder of his order, the
Franciscans. He had no relatives, a fact which after-
wards obtained for him the Regency.
The dignities of Mendoza were the most eminent in
the hierarchy and the kingdom, and were all conferred
before he had reached the meridian of life. He was
Bishop of Calahorra and Siguenza, Archbishop of
Seville and Toledo, Primate of Spain, a Prince of the
Church, Patriarch of Alexandria, Legate of the
Pope. He became Chancellor of Castile. He was
appointed Captain-General under both Henry IV.
and Isabella. He was most prominent in all the
events of the civil and the Moorish wars. He won the
battle of Olmedo for Juan II. He defeated the King
of Portugal on the field of Toro. At twenty-foui*
he was practically minister of state. At sixty-four
he planned the last campaign before Granada as com-
mander-in-chief of the besieging army. His hands
raised upon the Tower of Comares the archiepiscopal
cross of his diocese, the symbol of Christian suprem-
acy and ecclesiastical power.
In habits, tastes, demeanor, and personal appear-
ance a marked contrast existed between the two most
famous prelates of the fifteenth century. Mendoza
was epicurean, Ximenes ascetic. The table of the
Great Cardinal was furnished with every luxury.
His garments were of the finest quality, as befitted
his rank. Jewels sparkled upon his fingers. His
cleanliness excited the wonder and often the disappro-
bation of the pious, as savoring of heresy. None but
236 History of the
youths of distinguished birth were admitted to his
household. His morals partook of the laxity of the
time. The ladies honored with his attentions were
members of the aristocracy, daughters of noble
houses, maids of honor to the Queen. His three sons
were legitimatized by Pope Innocent VIII. in 1486
and by Isabella in 1487. Through their matrimonial
connections, the blood of this famous ecclesiastical
grandee has been mingled with that of many of the
proudest families of Castile.
While the promotion of Mendoza to the highest
offices of Church and State was due partly to his illus-
trious ancestry and partly to his eminent talents, that
of Ximenes was derived entirely from his reputation
for piety and wisdom. Honors were hterally thrust
upon him. With real or affected humility, he at-
tempted to evade the search and disobey the commands
of those who wished to raise him to absolute power.
He loudly protested his unworthiness. He declared
his preference for the duties and the seclusion of a
private station. Even while at the height of his great-
ness, he never abandoned the habits of the monastery.
He carried into the splendid archiepiscopal see of To-
ledo, the highest post in the ecclesiastical system of
Europe, the practices of the penitent and the anchor-
ite. Under his cardinal's robes of scarlet and gold
he wore constantly the cowl and knotted girdle of the
Franciscan friars. A haircloth shirt, which was never
changed, irritated his flesh. His diet was frugal to
excess. " He only ate enough," says his biographer,
" to sustain the little life that penance had left him."
His food consisted principally of herbs, his only drink
was water. His virtue was impregnable, even St.
Anthony himself might have envied him his constancy
under temptation. To him was never imputed the re-
proach of frequent ablution, the stigma of the Mos-
lem heretic. The constant use of a haircloth under-
Moorish Empire in Europe 237
garment, while not conducive to personal purity, is
readily productive of those physical conditions which,
in the Middle Ages, were almost infallible signs of a
good Christian.
The early life of Mendoza was passed amidst the
atmosphere of the most dignified and punctilious
court in Europe. His experience from boyhood fitted
him for any service to which he might be assigned by
the order of his king. He was thoroughly familiar
with the arts of diplomacy. He had led his vassals in
many a bloody encounter. With the skill of a suc-
cessful general he had directed the movements of
large bodies of troops in action. In every conflict he
had fearlessly exposed himself to danger. He was
indulgent to the faults of his ecclesiastical inferiors.
For the glory of the Church he built and endowed the
College of Valladolid. The Hospital of Santa Cruz
at Toledo was a superb monument to his munificence.
He expended great sums in charity. The debasing
vice of bigotry was far from dominating his character.
The person of Mendoza was tall, erect, and com-
manding ; his features handsome ; his bearing that of
a soldier and a gentleman; his manners affable and
unaffected; in all respects he was the model of dig-
nity, of gentleness, and of courtesy. His influence in
the government was so great that he was everywhere
known as " The Third King of Spain." It was said
of him as of Csesar, " Quicquid volebat, valde vole-
bat."
Ximenes brought to the management of a great
empire none of that familiarity with public affairs so
essential to the statesman. His life had been bounded
by the narrow horizon of the cloister. His reading
had been confined to the homilies and polemics of the
Fathers. At the assault of Oran, instead of leading
his troops, he retired to pray in his tent. The univer-
sity he established at Alcala, as a rival to that of Sala-
238 History or the
manca, was far from realizing his hopes. His ap-
pearance disclosed his obscure lineage and his plebeian
associations. His form was bent, his face emaciated,
his manners shy and awkward. He possessed none of
that winning grace which is the common birthright of
his countrymen. In the administration of his office he
was arbitrary and irascible. His obstinacy was only
exceeded by the severity with which he enforced his
decrees; his pursuit of heresy and monastic license,
only by the vigor with which he encountered and
crushed all opposition. His reputation for ability, for
learning, for sanctity, for every attribute that evokes
the admiring applause of mankind, far surpassed that
of his predecessor among all ranks of his contempo-
raries.
Such were the two churchmen, both of whom had
obtained the finest education afforded by their age and
country ; both founders of great colleges ; both gifted
with extraordinary talents ; both clothed with despotic
power ; to whose agency is to be principally attributed
the absolute annihilation of Jewish and Moslem sci-
ence and literature in the Spanish Peninsula.
It is impossible for us at this distance of time to
fully appreciate the enormous influence wielded by
a prelate who dispensed the wealth and patronage of
the ecclesiastical establishment of the Spanish mon-
archy. His capacity for good or evil was practically
unlimited. He was the keeper of the royal conscience.
The sentiments of every community, the decision of
important questions of diplomacy, the adoption of
measures vital to the permanence of national exist-
ence, the prosecution of war, the negotiation of peace,
all depended upon the opinions and advice which ema-
nated from the throne of the metropolitan see of
Toledo. When to the prestige and revenues of the
primacy were added the mysterious procedure and
dreadful energy of the Inquisition, the formidable
MooEiSH Empire in Europe 239
character of the power possessed by Ximenes may be
conjectured. His will was law in every parish in the
kingdom. Through the fears and mistaken devotion
of a superstitious queen he was already the virtual
ruler of Castile. His zeal was the more dangerous
from the fact that it was sincere; no element of
hypocrisy discredited the motives or impaired the
supremacy of this uncompromising fanatic. The
sweeping reforms he instituted among the clergy, and
the rigor with which all disobedience was punished,
awakened the resentment of every ecclesiastic whose
lax morality or religious indifference had rendered
him the object of official admonition or discipline.
Those who appealed to the Pope were thrown into
prison. Petitions for indulgence were treated with
contempt. Remonstrances were chastised by sus-
pension from functions and deprivation of benefices.
The energy of his measures, the rudeness of his man-
ners, the arbitrary, almost brutal, defiance of prece-
dent and custom with which he treated his inferiors,
his well-known control over the infamous tribunal
whose public sacrifices in the name of religious unity
had already terrorized the kingdom, his incorrupti-
bility and self -mortification, invested the office of
Ximenes with more than imperial authority. Isabella
congratulated herself on her discernment. Her pious
ambition was excited. In the hands of this active
prelate the Moors of Granada might be speedily
Christianized. The slow and pacific methods of Tala-
vera had frequently aroused the displeasure and in-
voked the censures of the impatient Queen. Her
partiality for the eccentric and determined church-
man whose enforcement of long-neglected monastic
regulations and whose condemnation of the luxurious
habits of his subordinates had procured for him the
open homage and secret execration of bishop and friar
alike, whose inflexible decision, whose disregard of
240 History of the
humanity and justice whenever he conceived the in-
terests of the Church were involved, rendered him so
offensively conspicuous, suggested him at once as a
pre-eminently suitable instrument for the extermina-
tion of Moslem heresy and the rapid propagation of
the Faith. He was, therefore, ordered to Granada,
nominally as the adviser of Talavera in the work of
spiritual regeneration, with the secret understanding,
however, that his superior rank would exempt him
from even the apparent exercise of official duties in
a subordinate capacity. His first step, and one of
which it is scarcely possible that Isabella could have
been ignorant, was to procure a formal authorization
from the Holy Office to investigate and punish the
crime of heresy.
Armed with this document, and confident in the
support of the Queen, Ximenes arrived at Granada
in October, 1499. His conduct from the beginning
was marked by unflinching audacity and resolution.
The prestige of his dignity and the arrogance of his
manners at once overawed the gentle Archbishop,
who, renouncing the means which had achieved such
great success, henceforth abandoned himself blindly
to the merciless impulses of his distinguished supe-
rior. The latter was not long in profiting by the
ascendency he had obtained. He claimed for himself
supreme and dictatorial authority in matters not only
ecclesiastical, but in questions often affecting the
jurisdiction of the civil power. His first measures
evinced none of the unrelenting severity of the in-
quisitor ; they were corrupt, politic, conciliato^J^ The
faquis and santons, whose influence with their coun-
trymen was supposed to be the greatest and whose
mercenary character had been notorious in the evil
days preceding the surrender, were enlisted in the
service of conversion by magnificent gifts of silken
garments, jewels, and gold. With their zeal quick-
Moorish Empire in Europe 241
ened by these potent arguments, the new missionaries
had no difficulty in securing multitudes of proselytes.
Their ardor was further stimulated by forcible repre-
sentations of the inconveniences and trials which
would inevitably be visited upon all who persisted in
their adherence to error. Great emulation was ex-
cited by these extraordinary inducements to Moham-
medan apostasy; each faqui reckoned with pride the
number of converts he had conducted to the altar; the
unprincipled populace welcomed, with feigned and
interested enthusiasm, a religious compliance pur-
chased with the mammon of unrighteousness; the
Great Mosque of the Albaycin in which quarter the
Moors had, by a highly impolitic decree, been con-
centrated after the Conquest was consecrated to
Christianity, and within its precincts more than four
thousand alleged penitents received the rite of bap-
tism. This ceremony was effected without previous
examination or instruction; and the candidates were
equally ignorant of their duties and of the dreadful
consequences involved in the sin of recantation. From
that moment their moral responsibility was fixed. No
excuse could be pleaded for the unconscious mainten-
ance of heretical opinions or even for involuntary in-
fractions of ecclesiastical discipline; the voice of the
informer was ever ready to denounce, the hand of
the inquisitor to punish.
This triumph of the Faith, while exceedingly
gratifying, was proportionately expensive. The en-
tire available revenues of the See of Toledo, amount-
ing to seventy thousand ducats, were expended in its
accomplishment. Even this great sum proved insuffi-
cient, and Ximenes was forced to pledge his private
credit to appease the demands of the crowd of mer-
cenary sycophants and spurious converts who claimed
the reward of their abasement and dishonor. Among
the sincere disciples of the Prophet, and there were
Vol. III. 16
242 History of the
many in Granada, the course of their perfidious
brethren was regarded with unconcealed abhorrence.
The more earnest and devout of these endeavored to
counteract the growing inclination to religious defec-
tion by public exhortations and remonstrances. It
was not in the imperious nature of the Primate to
brook such opposition. The offending faquis were
thrown into prison. History has not revealed the na-
ture of the arguments employed to shake their con-
stancy, but the persecuted Moslems were evidently
not of the stuff of which martyrs and saints are made.
One after another recanted and were baptized ; many
of their fellow-sectaries profited by their example;
resistance was for the time effectually suppressed;
and Ximenes pursued, without molestation, his favor-
ite and inexorable method of wholesale conversion.
To his narrow and arbitrary mind the employment
of the most radical measures seemed to promise
the greatest assurances of success. In the further-
ance of this idea, and with a view to eradicating the
apparent cause of the evil, he now planned what he
considered a master-stroke of policy. Without pre-
vious notice, a diligent search was made of every
house throughout the entire city, and every manuscript
in the Arabic language which could be found was
seized. The number thus secured amounted to nearly
a million. Among them were not only superb copies
of the Koran, but relics of the great Ommeyade body
of literature, which had been the pride of the imperial
court of Cordova, and had been cherished as priceless
through many generations ; the contents of the public
libraries, whose preservation and increase had been the
especial care of the enlightened Alhamares ; treatises
on history and science, which described the events and
pictured the intellectual advancement of what had
been the most learned and polished of nations; and
the literary treasures of every scholar and philosopher
Moorish Empire in Europe 243
in the capital. The works on chemistry, botany, as-
tronomy, and medicine, subjects which had always
engaged the diligent curiosity of the Spanish Arab,
predominated. There, too, were doubtless to be found
many translations of the classics, inheritances from
the Grecian school of Alexandria, henceforth for-
ever lost, which had found their way into the Penin-
sula from the distant banks of the Nile. These vol-
umes exhibited in the beauty of their calligraphy and
the magnificence of their adornment all the pomp, the
pride, the luxury, of Saracen art. Beautiful ara-
besques in gold, silver, and many colors, embellished
pages written with a delicacy and regularity which
equalled that of the finest type. The bindings were
of inlaid leather ; some were embroidered ; others were
incrusted with tortoise-shell, mother-of-pearl, ivory,
and jewels; the clasps were of solid gold. All of
these inestimable stores of learning were heaped in
one immense pile in the centre of the Plaza de la Bab-
al-Rambla, set on fire, and consumed. The impor-
tance of this sacrifice to bigotry may be inferred from
the fact that there was probably in the entire world
no collection of equal extent and value as that de-
stroyed by Ximenes in this historic square, where, in
the time of the emirs, national festivals had been cele-
brated, and the emulation of distinguished warriors
in the martial sports of the tournament excited by
the presence of the beauty and the gallantry of the
Moslem court; where the differences of Castilian
princes had been settled by a chivalric appeal to arms ;
where cultured audiences had witnessed the friendly
rivalry of Moorish poets and troubadours, and the re-
ward of the victor had been bestowed by the hand of
royalty, all little suspecting that on the scene of their
pleasures would one day be exhibited such a melan-
choly spectacle.
The pecuniary loss entailed by this vandalism was
244 History of the
of itself immense, but the destructive effect it pro-
duced upon society was incalculable. By it perished
unique literary monuments which it was impossible to
replace; it offered a premium upon ignorance, for
through such deeds alone was the favor of the all-
powerful sacerdotal order to be secured; it discour-
aged learning to such a degree that from that time
forth no JVIoslem writer of distinction appeared to
illustrate the annals or depict the manners of his race;
and it annihilated in a single hour the precious accu-
mulation of ages, from which the modern historian
might have collected data relative to Moorish civili-
zation elsewhere unattainable in the world of letters.
The intellectual degradation resulting from this in-
tolerant act of Ximenes was most deplorable. All
knowledge was thereafter filtered through the narrow
channels of ecclesiastical inspection and thoroughly
cleansed of every suspicion of heresy ; the missal and
the breviary supplanted the works of Arabic annalists
and philosophers; and the enduring results of this
crime against learning and of its pernicious example
are still apparent in the remarkably illiterate and
fanatical character of the inhabitants of Granada.
Three hundred volumes on the science of medicine
were saved from the flames, for the library of the
University of Alcala; but no entreaties or remon-
strances from his companions could move the fero-
cious bigot to exempt from the sacrifice volumes-
whose jewelled covers and clasps of gold represented
in themselves a princely fortune.
The destruction of Arabic manuscripts was the first
step towards the employment of violence. With
characteristic energy, the Primate availed himself
of the authority with which he had been armed by the
Holy Office. Persons suspected of heresy were sum-
marily seized, imprisoned, tortured; and those who
for the moment escaped experienced all the indignities
Moorish Empire in Europe 245
which could be inflicted by the hands of ecclesiastical
malice strengthened by boundless power. These
outrages, and the repeated violation of the rights
granted in their treaty with the crown, aroused the
populace to desperation; and the arrest of a widow,
whose wealth had attracted the cupidity of the authori-
ties, was the signal for a dangerous revolt. The gates
of the Albaycin were closed and guarded. The streets
were barricaded. The towers were occupied, and
Ximenes, whom the indignant threats of the people
openly devoted to death, was besieged by an armed
multitude in his palace, from which perilous situation
he was with difficulty released by the Count of Ten-
dilla. The news of the insurrection called down upon
the tyrannical prelate the wrath of his sovereigns, but
the singular credit he enjoyed and the vast influence
he was able to wield soon restored him to royal favor.
It was now resolved to carry matters to extremes,
and the choice of baptism or death was ofl'ered to the
Moors, whose rebellion, although provoked by the op-
pression of their masters, was declared to have caused
a forfeiture of all their privileges. The disafl'ection
spread rapidly to the provinces ; the mountaineers of
the Alpuj arras and the adjacent rugged country,
which were the resorts of bands of desperate outlaws
who entertained intimate relations with the Barbary
corsairs, became involved ; and the Catholic monarchs,
so far from the religious triumph which they had
anticipated, saw themselves suddenly confronted by
a war which promised to assume formidable propor-
tions. Space will not permit a detailed description of
the repeated insurrections and final subjugation of
the Moriscoes, and only the more important events of
that memorable struggle can be touched upon. The
mountain ranges of Southern Spain were admirably
adapted to the desultory tactics in which they excelled,
and the prolongation of the struggle was the natural
246 History of the
consequence of the difficulties of the ground, of the
boldness and activity of the insurgents, of the inca-
pacity of the Castilian commanders, and of the pro-
verbial want of discipline and fatal recklessness of
the Christian soldiery. The general disarmament of
the Moors had deprived them of the greater part
of their weapons, but this disadvantage v/as eventually
repaired by the spoils of battle and by the enterprise
of Aragonese and Castilian traders, who, undismayed
by the prospect of detection and punishment, were
always ready, for an extravagant compensation, to
furnish the enemies of their king with arms of the
most approved pattern and workmanship. The oper-
ations of the contending forces were prosecuted with
a cruelty hitherto unknown, even in the bloody annals
of the Peninsula; and the ultimate triumph of the
Spaniards was signalized by acts of such merciless
vengeance that the foreign soldiers of fortune, enlisted
for plunder and long seasoned by bloodshed, were ap-
palled by their dreadful atrocity. The massacre of
the population of a place taken by storm was the rule
and not the exception; the wounded remaining on
fields of battle were exterminated; prisoners were
subjected to horrible tortures; every crime suggested
by the incentives of lust, rapine, and hereditary aver-
sion was perpetrated; and the most desirable fate of
a captive was to be consigned for life to the tyranny
of an unfeeling master dominated by every vice, in-
accessible to mercy, and unrestrained by any law either
of God or man.
An army of nearly a hundred thousand men assem-
bled, at the summons of the Spanish sovereigns, for
the suppression of the insurrection, at Alliendin near
Granada. Formidable in numbers alone, this great
host was composed of materials very different from
the soldiery that had achieved the Conquest. It was
indifferently equipped, unorganized, and absolutely
Moorish Empire in Europe 247
deficient in discipline. The flower of the Castilian
youth, inspired by the discoveries of Columbus, had
sought new scenes of adventure on the shores of mys-
terious lands beyond the ocean. Commercial pursuits
had weakened the military spirit; a peace of many
years had impaired the energy of the nation and inca-
pacitated, for the exposure of a perilous service, a
people who had been reared and nurtured amidst the
din of arms. The blessings of internal tranquillity,
almost forgotten in the conflict of centuries, had once
more permitted the unmolested exercise of the me-
chanical arts and the practice of agricultural industry.
The better class of citizens, in the full enjoyment of
security, were loath to resume, for the sake of a re-
ligious principle, whose enforcement promised much
danger and trifling advantage, the hazards of the un-
certain game of war. The army was therefore mainly
composed of the retainers and vassals of the nobility,
whose duty required their presence, and an innumer-
able horde of penniless adventurers, who sought, in
the excitements and vicissitudes of a campaign against
the infidel, an opportunity for the improvement of
their desperate fortunes. Aided by a smaller force
operating from Almeria, the rebellion was, after some
fighting and much cruel retaliation, put down; the
insurgents, impelled by the promise of immunity or
the menace of death, consented to embrace the Cath-
olic faith ; the ancient chroniclers relate with becoming
pride that during a single day ten thousand proselytes
were baptized in the Sierra de Filabres alone; and
through material inducements, or from the contagion
of example, the inhabitants of Baza and Guadix, of
the Alpuj arras, and of the mountain regions to the
south as far as the sea, were reckoned among those
who acknowledged the authority of the Church and
accepted the doctrines of Christianity.
With the advent of the sixteenth century, a royal
248 History of the
decree was promulgated, establishing at Granada the
same civil jurisdiction which obtained in the other pro-
vincial capitals of the kingdom. The magistracy was
nominally divided between the Spaniards and the
Moors, but the equality was only apparent, and the
preponderance of power virtually remained with the
conquerors. Allured by the delusive prospect of a
voice in the affairs of the government, and despairing
of assistance from their brethren in Africa, whose
good offices they had repeatedly but vainly solicited,
the Moors of the Albaycin finally consented to bap-
tism. They required, as a condition of their compli-
ance, permission to wear their national costume and
to use the Arabic language, privileges which were sub-
sequently made pretexts for oppression. It was also
agreed that the Holy Office should not be established
at Granada for the space of forty years; a provision
which ecclesiastical acumen readily evaded by placing
that city under the jurisdiction of the Inquisitorial
tribunal of Cordova.
Still dissatisfied with the slow progress made by her
ministers in bringing the obdurate Moors within the
pale of Christianity, Isabella a second time ordered
Ximenes to Granada. Instructed by his prior expe-
rience, he conducted himself with more discretion than
before; but his proselytes, driven into the Church by
hundreds, without previous instruction, remained, like
their predecessors, profoundly ignorant of its doc-
trines and of the responsibilities imposed upon them
by their enforced conversion. This time the stay of
the Primate was short ; his ascetic habits had impaired
a constitution never extremely robust; and a pulmo-
nary affection of a serious character, whose symptoms
were aggravated by unremitting excitement and toil,
speedily developed. The available resources of medi-
cal science were unable to relieve his malady, and,
abandoned as hopeless by regular practitioners, in the
Moorish Empire in Europe 249
hour of his extremity he was induced to submit to the
treatment of a venerable Moorish woman, who com-
bined with Arabic science the mysterious and uncanny
ceremonies of the witch and the empiric. Under her
ministrations the distinguished sufferer improved with
a rapidity which, under other conditions, would have
been deemed miraculous ; and he was soon able to leave
the scene of his labors, owing his life to the skill of a
member of that race which he had relentlessly perse-
cuted, after a career which, however short, had made
a more profound and fatal impress upon the policy of
the Spanish Crown than that of any other dignitary
of his time, and which was destined subsequently to
exert a powerful influence upon the political fate and
the future civilization of Europe.
A sequence of calamities, traceable to royal perfidy
and ecclesiastical usurpation, was now about to de-
scend upon the Spanish monarchy. The apprehen-
sions of the inhabitants of the Serrania of Ronda had
been aroused by reports of the injustice and violence
visited upon their countrymen of Granada. The
Moorish citizens of the ancient capital and its environs
were now all nominally Christians. The persuasive
methods of Talavera and the severity of Ximenes had
enrolled upon the registers of the Church more than
seventy thousand proselytes. Under the circum-
stances, the professions of a vast majority of these
were necessarily insincere. It was an example of the
organization of hypocrisy upon a gigantic scale, where
religious principle was subordinated to material inter-
ests, and an outward observance of superstitious rites
was accepted as an equivalent of earnest devotion and
genuine piety. These reputed converts had not, how-
ever, by any means abandoned the faith of their fore-
fathers. They diligently celebrated its rites in secret.
Their children were early, and with secrecy, instructed
in the doctrines of Islam. In defiance of royal de-
250 History of the
crees, they practised many suspicious ceremonies not
recognized even by orthodox Moslems, performed in-
cantations, wore tahsmans and charms. A concealed
system of communication was established between
them and their brethren in the provinces; and each
important event that took place in the city was known
within a few hours to every inhabitant of the sierras.
The Moors of the Serrania of Ronda did not receive
the Gospel with the same docility as their kinsmen of
the Alpuj arras, whose doubts had been speedily re-
moved by the cogent argument of a hundred thousand
armed men. The missionaries, who tried to carry mat-
ters with a high hand, were maltreated and driven
away. The mountaineers rose ; the country was swept
by bands of merciless brigands ; the corsairs of Africa
repaired in large numbers to the scene of booty and
adventure; the passes were barricaded; and the re-
gion in the vicinity of Ronda assumed the appearance
of a fortified camp. Offers of amnesty, conditional
on baptism, were received with scorn. An army under
Don Alonso de Aguilar, the Count of Cifuentes, and
the Count of Urefia then entered the mountains. The
Moors, evacuating their villages, slowly retired to the
Sierra Bermeja, where they made a final stand. The
impetuosity and want of discipline of the Christians
lured them into a disadvantageous situation, whence
there was no escape. After a day of fighting, they
were surrounded in the darkness and routed with
frightful slaughter. Don Alonso de Aguilar, Fran-
cisco Ramirez de Madrid, chief of ordnance of the
Spanish army, and many other cavaliers, were killed;
and the mountain slopes were strewn with the bodies
of soldiers who had been butchered as they fled. The
victory of the Sierra Bermeja was the only important
one gained by the insurgents in the long course of the
Morisco wars. It was productive of no substantial
advantage; and its only permanent effect was to ex-
Moorish Empire in Europe 251
asperate the Queen, who, now regarding herself as
the injured party, devoted henceforth all her energy
to the oppression of a heretic race whose existence she
considered a blemish upon her piety and a scandal to
her dominions.
The submission of the Moors, during the gradual
subjugation of the Peninsula, had left large numbers
in different conditions of life scattered through the
provinces of the various kingdoms. A few had early
apostatized; many were held in a state of servitude;
but by far the larger portion enjoyed a nominal free-
dom, and purchased immunity from molestation by
the payment of tribute. All who complied with the
laws regulating their responsibilities to the govern-
ment were allowed the peaceful exercise of their re-
ligious ceremonies. The principal wealth of the Cas-
tilian nobility consisted in the industry of these their
intelligent and laborious dependents. On what are
now known as the dehesas and despoblados " pas-
tures" and " deserts" of Castile and Estremadura,
the Moorish agriculturists produced from an ungrate-
ful soil the wheat which supplied the population of
the entire Peninsula. These invaluable tributaries of
the Spanish Crown had never evinced the slightest
concern for the fate of their fellow-sectaries contend-
ing for liberty and religion on the distant banks of the
Genii. Not only had they failed to manifest their
sympathy, but the extraordinary contributions for the
prosecution of the war levied upon the products of
their thrift largely contributed to the successful ter-
mination of a struggle in whose result they naturally
must have felt a more than passing interest. Had
their feelings been sufficiently ardent to have induced
active and armed co-operation, the difficulties of the
Reconquest must have been vastly increased. As it
was, their apathetic and selfish conduct was far from
securing them immunity from persecution.
252 History of the
The malignant bigotry of the Queen, flinging to
the winds every sentiment of justice, piety, and hu-
manity, had now usurped over her better nature an
imperious and undisputed dominion; and on the
twelfth of February, 1502, she published an edict or-
dering the banishment of all the Moors of Leon and
Castile. The extraordinary lack of political discern-
ment disclosed by such a step affords painful evidence
to what dishonorable and injurious expedients a mind
of more than ordinary capacity may be impelled by
the fury of religious passion. These objects of her
animadversion were, as a class, her most faithful, obe-
dient, and valuable subjects. They had always ob-
served the laws with scrupulous fidelity. Those most
prejudiced against their blood and their belief had
never imputed to them the crimes of sacrilege, of con-
spiracy, of treason. Under their patient and skilful
hands, the most unpromising regions, heretofore aban-
doned by native ignorance and sloth as totally unpro-
ductive, now blossomed with unsurpassed fertility.
Their industry filled the granaries of the kingdom;
there was no other available source of supply, and
with their expulsion a famine was imminent; in the
future, as was subsequently demonstrated, there were
none competent or willing to take their place. The
slaves of her powerful vassals, serfs who represented
infinite blood and treasure expended in the service of
the crown, were not originally exempted from the
force of this sweeping decree, and the infringement
of private rights resulting from the arbitrary confis-
cation of this property, without excuse or recompense,
promised disastrous political complications. These
considerations had, however, no weight in the mind of
the obstinate Isabella. The fact that in the midst
of a Christian population an infidel community was
sufl'ered to exist, especially after the Moslems of Gra-
nada had declared their adherence to the Faith, was
Moorish Empire in Europe 253
repugnant to her intolerant nature, and a standing
reproach to the religion she professed. In support of
her policy, she coined the atrocious maxim, worthy
of the ingenious casuistry of a Jesuit, " It is better
to prevent than to punish; and it is right to punish
the little for the crimes of the great." The vicarious
sufferings of the Castilian Arabs were now to atone
for the offences of the rebels of Granada, with whom
they had nothing in common but a similar origin and
an inherited creed, and in whose behalf they had
never exhibited the slightest indication of countenance
or sympathy. The enforcement of this measure,
whose inhuman provisions subjected the unhappy ob-
jects of its severity to the treatment due outlaws and
criminals, was only partially observed. At the very
beginning it was seen that, if carried out to the letter,
a considerable part of the kingdom would become a
barren and uninliabited solitude. The decree was
therefore revoked. A compromise, by which the deli-
cate scruples of the Queen were satisfied, was effected,
baptism was substituted for exile ; the scenes of in-
discriminate and wholesale aspersion were repeated;
a large and industrious population bartered their re-
ligious convictions for safety, and, by the force of a
royal proclamation, were transformed from a self-
respecting body of colonists into a nation of hypo-
crites.
With the death of Isabella, which occurred at this
time, the Moriscoes were relieved from the persecution
of a vindictive and persevering enemy. The perma-
nent elimination of her influence from the politics of
the Peninsula did not, however, improve the condition
of the recent victims of her fiery and unrelenting zeal.
The system by which she governed; the infamous
maxims which guided her conduct in the relations ex-
isting between sovereign and subject; the shameless
violation of treaties ; the audacious usurpations of the
254 History of the
clergy; the prejudices engendered by years of oppres-
sion, were perpetuated by her successors, and adopted
by their ministers as an essential part of the policy of
the crown. The reverence with which her memory is
regarded is to be attributed, not so much to the great-
ness of her abilities, eminent as they were, but to their
misapplication; not to the military achievements of
her armies, but to the sanguinary revenge they in-
flicted upon vanquished enemies ; not to the blessings
of a wise, a just, and a stable government, the most
substantial foundation upon which the fame of a mon-
arch can be erected, but to the inauguration of meas-
ures which eventually purged the kingdom of mis-
believers, who were the source of its material wealth
and of its commercial and agricultural prosperity. A
princess who could deliberately repudiate the obliga-
tions of national honor can scarcely be regarded in the
light of a public benefactor. The patroness of the
Inquisition has but a slender claim to the admiration
of posterity. The popularity of Isabella is based
upon the fact that she was the representative of con-
temporaneous popular sentiment. In the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries no proceeding was so merito-
rious as the torture of heretics. All questions of po-
litical expediency were rigidly subordinated to the
claims of what was universally regarded as a para-
mount religious duty. The progressive decadence of
Spanish power dates from its very establishment, and
is directly traceable to the incessant intervention of
ecclesiastical authority in civil affairs, and to the awful
consequences resulting from the unlimited application
of the atrocious principle that national faith and pub-
lic honor must be always sacrificed to the interests of
the Roman Catholic religion.
The different aspects under which the same things
appeared, during the sixteenth century, to people of
a common nationality, living under the same laws and
Moorish Empire in Europe 255
professing the same doctrines, are remarkable. Dur-
ing the bitter persecutions in Castile, the Aragonese
Moslems retained their privileges unimpaired. Not
only that, but while the spirit of fanaticism was
driving the tributaries of Isabella by thousands to sim-
ulated conversion, Ferdinand issued a decree granting
to the Moors of Valencia the enjoyment of their re-
ligious and social rights in perpetuity. On the one
hand, therefore, was the most radical suppression of
individual thought and action ; on the other, a tolera-
tion worthy of the most enlightened statesmanship,
and, it must be added, little to be anticipated under
the circumstances. But the sagacity of Ferdinand
never willingly countenanced the employment of force
in matters of religion. His jealousy of power caused
him to resent the encroachments of the priesthood;
and he secretly discouraged the oppression of a race
which he recognized as controlling the material re-
sources upon whose maintenance depended the preser-
vation of his dignity and prestige.
During the twelve years that intervened between
the death of Isabella and that of Ferdinand, the
Moors enjoyed comparative peace and immunity; and
the advent of Charles V. brought at first no unfavor-
able changes in their political or social conditions.
That prince was scarcely seated upon the throne which
he had inherited, and by whose acceptance there de-
volved upon him responsibilities of the greatest mo-
ment and the government of a people of whose dispo-
sition and character he was profoundly ignorant, when
serious internal disturbances began to menace his
authority. In Castile, the Comuneros, a conspiracy
of nobles and municipalities, arose to assert their an-
cient privileges, impaired by foreign influence; and,
at the same time, the Valencian populace banded
together under the name of Germania, or Brother-
hood, to repress the growing insolence of the aristoc-
256 History of the
racy. The encroachments of the latter had long been
a serious grievance in the kingdom of Valencia. Its
members, ever since the Conquest, had maintained an
insulting deportment with their inferiors, which had
exasperated the latter beyond all endurance. They
borrowed money of wealthy merchants and repaid
them with curses and ridicule. TJie establishment of a
regency had weakened the administration of the laws ;
the nobles were not slow to observe the advantages
which a virtual interregnum afforded the development
of private ambition ; and, in the assertion of obsolete
feudal privileges, every wrong which avarice or hatred
could suggest was inflicted upon the citizens of a rich
and defenceless community. The Moors, who were
the vassals of the Valencian nobles, were not infre-
quently the instruments of their malevolence, and
shared with their masters the general obloquy which
attached to their conduct. The organization of the
Germania had an important and disastrous effect
upon the fortunes of the former. Their lot was cast
with their lords, and the predominance temporarily
acquired by the rebels through the incapacity of the
Viceroy proved fatal in the end to the liberties of the
vassal. The popular cry of infidel was raised by the
insurgents, who numbered many ecclesiastics in their
ranks, and sixteen thousand Moslems submitted to the
infliction of compulsory baptism. The Emperor, who
seems to have inherited with his dominions a taste for
persecution, was not satisfied while a single Moham-
medan remained within the jurisdiction of the Spanish
Crown. With great difficulty he extorted a bull from
the Pope which absolved him from the oath he had
taken to observe the ancient laws and treaties of the
kingdom, and expressly authorizing the reduction to
slavery of every Mussulman whose scruples or obsti-
nacy might prevent him from renouncing the belief of
his fathers. Secure of Papal sanction, Charles now
Moorish Empire in Europe 257
issued a proclamation requiring the Moors, under mys-
terious but unspecified penalties, to become Christians
within ten days. The latter, who did not manifest the
submissive spirit of their brethren, maintained a sullen
demeanor, and, disposing of their personal effects for
whatever they could obtain, prepared to go into exile.
The publicity of their intention, however, defeated it ;
the authorities forbade the sale of their property as
well as their departure, and nothing remained for
them but apostasy or armed resistance. The former
alternative was embraced by far the great^^ number.
With such a multitude individual aspersion was im-
possible ; the water of regeneration was sprinkled over
kneeling thousands with branches of hyssop, and more
than one unrepentant infidel, who had submitted with
secret disgust to an obnoxious ceremony, was heard
to mutter, " Praise be to Allah ! Not a drop defiled
I"
me!
The rural communities of Valencia regarded the
prospect of conversion with even more disfavor than
did the inhabitants of the capital. The ecclesiastical
commissioners sent to enforce the royal edicts were
excluded from the dwellings of the peasantry, who
refused to hear their exhortations. In some localities
open violence was manifested; the Baron of Cortes,
who had urged submission, was killed by his retainers,
and his body left to be devoured by swine. Resistance
to royal authority was soon followed by organized re-
volt, and the Sierra de Espadan became the seat of a
formidable insurrection. Including the banditti who
habitually infested the mountains, and the African
freebooters who hailed every disturbance as a source
of plunder and profit, the army of the rebels amounted
to more than four thousand well-armed men. A
farmer named Selim Carbaic was elected their gen-
eral, whose natural abilities and the valor of whose
followers maintained for months an unequal strug-
VoL. III. 17
258 History of the
gle with the combined resources of the monarchy.
Overcome at last, two thousand of the insurgents with
their leader perished in a single battle ; and a general
amnesty was declared, under the sole condition by
which any Moslem was now permitted to retain life or
liberty. The Moors of Catalonia and Aragon were
tendered the same alternative. Without hesitation
they preferred hypocrisy to martyrdom; and by the
year 1526 there no longer remained within the limits
of the Spanish Peninsula a single individual who
dared to openly acknowledge his belief in the creed
of Mohammed.
This flattering result having been finally accom-
plished, it was now considered advisable to reform the
proselytes. In nearly all localities where the Moris-
coes predominated they occupied an anomalous posi-
tion, so far as their spiritual welfare was concerned,
for they were practically living without any religion.
They neglected to conform to the ordinances or to
observe the canons of the Church whose pale they had
entered under compulsion. The evasion of their
duties was connived at by the priests, who, so long as
their parishioners were quiet and regularly paid their
contributions, closed their eyes to all formal irregulari-
ties, and never troubled themselves with the instruc-
tions which it was their office to impart. This indul-
gence was further secured by donatives that exempted
unwilling sinners from penance, whose vexatious per-
formance might always be commuted for a pecuniary
consideration. In the sight of the clergy, spiritual
duties were thus entirely obscured by the more pal-
pable advantages to be derived from worldly benefits
and the maintenance of their flocks in ignorance, a
policy which at the same time confirmed their author-
ity and increased their revenues. But the Moriscoes,
while they shunned the mass, could not with safety
resort to any other source of religious consolation.
Moorish Empire in Europe 259
They were more than suspected of practising the rites
of Islam in secret; but the jealousy with which they
guarded the privacy of their domestic life prevented
the verification of this suspicion. In the eyes of de-
vout Christians, who did not fail to notice and repro-
bate their shortcomings, they were regarded as some-
thing worse than Pagans. Although they possessed
all the requisites of good citizenship, and their inter-
course with their neighbors was marked by every evi-
dence of honor and probity, these qualities<;;^.vere ig-
nored when their religious consistency was called in
question.
The visit of Charles V. to Granada in 1526 was
made the occasion for a strenuous appeal for the re-
form of the Moriscoes. Petitions and remonstrances
without number, reinforced with all the arts of sacer-
dotal eloquence, were presented to the Emperor,
urging that radical measures be taken to correct an
evil which was seriously affecting the credit and the
discipline of the Church. A commission of thirteen
members, most of them high ecclesiastical dignitaries,
and presided over by Don Alonso Manrique, Grand
Inquisitor of Spain, was therefore appointed, and
began an investigation. There was no difficulty in
anticipating the decision of such a tribunal. That its
decrees might be properly executed, the Holy Office
was brought from Jaen and formally established in
one of the palaces of the city. Ten sessions sufficed to
determine a question in which were involved matters
of the greatest consequence to the welfare of the king-
dom, the maintenance of national honor, and the jus-
tice and integrity of the crown. Every accusation
against the Moriscoes was received and considered, but
they were not permitted to be heard in their own de-
fence. The determination of the commission was pub-
lished in a royal edict, which prohibited the Moriscoes
the use of their family names, their dress, their Ian-
260 History of the
guage ; which compelled the exposure of the faces of
their women to the insulting gaze of the loungers in
the streets; which required the abandonment of the
peculiar ceremonies employed in the slaughter of ani-
mals for food ; which sanctioned by domiciliary visits
invasion of the privacy of their homes; and forbade
them to ever lose sight of the Inquisitorial palace,
whose officials were directed to henceforth exercise
careful supervision over their conduct, and to punish
with their customary rigor all infractions of religious
discipline.
The terror experienced by the victims of this atro-
cious decree, which not onlv violated the conditions
upon which Spanish supremac}^ depended, but delib-
erately sacrificed every consideration of justice for
which national honor had solemnly pledged its faith,
can hardly be imagined. But the ]Moriscoes, whose
experience with their spiritual advisers had taught
them the efficacy of certain methods in averting im-
pending evil, had recourse to an expedient which, on
a smaller scale, had repeatedly proved successful. It
was no secret that the royal treasury was em^pty ; and
it was suspected that the depressed condition of the
national finances was largely responsible for the prose-
lyting zeal so unexpectedly exerted against a peace-
able and inoffensive class. In consideration of a
" gift" of eight thousand ducats, the execution of the
obnoxious decree was suspended, during the pleasure
of the Emperor, as soon as it had been signed; but
this indulgence, it was expressly declared, did not
affect the jurisdiction of the Holy Office. The para-
sites who surrounded the throne demanded and re-
ceived an equal amount for an influence they claimed
to possess, but which was probably never exerted.
Thus a monarch, who posed as the secular representa-
tive of Roman Catholicism, consented to sacrifice the
religious interests of a large body of his subjects and
Moorish Empiee in Europe 261
to compromise the imperial dignity for a sum equiva-
lent at the present day to nine hundred thousand dol-
lars in gold. No event in Spanish history discloses
more clearly than this the true motives which insti-
gated the prosecution of heresy, or the extraordinary
wealth of those who were the objects of official cupid-
ity and public malevolence. .
The JNIoors of Granada, who had heretofo?^ been
almost exempt from the exactions of inquisitorial
tyranny, now experienced for the fii'st time the dire
powers of the Holy Office. One of the fii'st acts of
Isabella, after the Conquest, was the foundation of
innumerable monasteries. The favorite sites of these
establishments were the suburban palaces of the JNIos-
lem princes, it being considered a pecuharly merito-
rious achievement to erect on the ruins of a splendid
villa, devoted to the pleasures of a votary of Islam,
an abode for holy men, who, by a pious fiction, were
supposed to employ their abundant leisure in praying
for the salvation of heretics. In building these struct-
ures the baths were first demohshed, on account of the
scandal the sight of apartments devoted to ablution
and luxury caused everj^ good Christian, as well as for
the reason that their use was always considered en-
tirely superfluous in a monastic institution. As a re-
sult of the partiality exhibited by successive princes
towards the monachal orders, the city swarmed with
friars of every description. Their prejudices made
them the bitter enemies of the jNIoriscoes, while their
numbers and audacity rendered them both influential
and formidable. The fact that the inferior officials
of the Inquisition were principally recruited from
their ranks augmented the terror which their insolence
and rapacity inspired, and no familiar who wore the
Dominican or Franciscan garb was ever known to in-
cline to the side of mercy. To such hands was now
committed the fate of the jSIoors of Granada. The
262 History of the
compact with the Emperor, by which they had been
confirmed for the time in the enjoyment of their cus-
toms, was broken. Their property was confiscated.
They were subjected to the diabohcal tortures adopted
by the direst of tribunals for the production of tes-
timony and the confession of guilt. In the famous
Plaza de la Bab-al-Rambla, the scene of many
knightly encounters and of the destruction of Moslem
learning by Ximenes, the condemned underwent the
final penance, the sacrifice of the auto-da-fe. The
annoying restraints imposed upon them by priestly
intolerance were the least oppressive of the many evils
the Moriscoes were condemned to endure. In the fre-
quent controversies which arose concerning the inter-
pretation of imperial edicts and canonical decrees, the
authority of the latter always prevailed. Every offi-
cial, civil, religious, or military, asserted the privilege
of magistracj^ and claimed the right to compound an
offence or to impose a penalty. In the art of extort'
ing money, as in the direction of all matters pertaining
to civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the servants of
the Church displayed an extraordinary aptitude. The
regular taxes imposed upon the Moriscoes, a grievous
burden in themselves, were augmented a hundred-fold
by impositions unauthorized by law, and which had no
other foundation than the demands of official rapac-
ity. The sums obtained from these enforced contri-
butions were enormous. An idea may be formed of
the probable amount they yielded when it is remem-
bered that the legitimate tax paid annually by the silk
markets of Almeria, Malaga, and Granada added
more than a million dollars to the royal treasury. The
irregular means employed were far more profitable in
their results than those countenanced by legal author-
ity ; and there were few demands, however iniquitous,
which a Morisco dared refuse when confronted with
the menacing power of the Inquisition.
Moorish Empire in Europe 263
In Valencia also the Holy Office, supported by
Papal sanction and imperial duplicity, found a rich
and most fruitful field for its nefarious operations.
It was in this kingdom, so remarkable for its natural
advantages and the industry of its people, that the
Spanish proverb, " Quien tiene Moro, tiene oro," had
its origin. The relation of vassalage which the Moors
of that kingdom in general sustained to the nobility
was far from sufficient to protect them against the
effects of secular and ecclesiastical prejudice. The
unquestioned orthodoxy of the lord, his generosity to
the Church, the antiquity of his family, the prestige
of his name, his services to the crown, were swept aside
when the question of disciplining his retainers was in-
volved. The slightest suspicion attaching to a Mos-
lem was enough to invite the descent of a horde of
familiars and alguazils, who never failed to discover
evidences of irregularity sufficient to render their
examination profitable. The visitations of these
functionaries were doubly offensive by reason of
the unfeeling and insolent manner in which they
were conducted. They left no corner of a dwelling
unsearched ; they destroyed property, insulted women,
and without color of right or pretence of conceal-
ment appropriated such jewels and trinkets as struck
their fancy. Spies of the Holy Office swarmed in the
Moorish quarter, ever alert for signs of heresy. For
these outrages there was no possibility of redress, and
the trembling victim gladly purchased, by the confisca-
tion of his effects, temporary security from greater
misfortunes, which, if his worldly possessions were
sufficient to warrant further interference, he was cer-
tain sooner or later to undergo. The intolerable
nature of these persecutions impelled thousands of
Moriscoes to seek by flight the only available relief
from oppression. The Holy Fathers of the Inqui-
sition were horrified by the retaliatory measures
264 History of the
adopted by the friends of those who, for the welfare
of their souls, were subjected to the salutary restraints
of ecclesiastical discipline. Every time that the
Moors condemned by that tribunal expiated their
heresies in an auto-da-fe, information was promptly
sent to Barbary, and an equal number of Christian
captives perished by fire.
The African corsairs, under the command of the
relentless Barbarossa, at that time held the empire
of the Mediterranean, and by their aid multitudes
of Moriscoes succeeded in escaping to Morocco. In
vain the nobles protested against a policy which de-
preciated the value of their estates, depopulated their
villages, and daily deprived them of laborers whose
services could not be dispensed with and w^hose loss
could not be replaced ; both royal power and popular
sentiment sanctioned the course of the Church, and
the material prosperity of a single province was not
worthy of consideration when weighed with the per-
ishing souls of thousands of suspected heretics. Pecu-
niary arguments were then employed, and after sev-
eral years of negotiation the operations of the Holy
Office were suspended upon the payment of a yearly
donative of twenty-five hundred ducats. Once more
free from the perils of Inquisitorial visitation and
punishment, the Moriscoes at once relapsed into their
former religious indiff*erence ; the clergy viewed with
unconcern the unmistakable evidences of apostasy
among their parishioners; the nobles welcomed with
undisguised satisfaction the relief of their vassals, the
increase of their revenues, and the indications of re-
turning prosperity ; while the inquisitors, whose treas-
ury had been filled to overflowing with the gold wrung
by fines and confiscations from the wealthiest subjects
of the kingdom, sought in other quarters new mate-
rial for the stake and the dungeon, to be condemned
Moorish Empire in Europe 265
to present torture and eternal infamy in the name of
an All-Merciful God.
The abdication of Charles V. brought a grateful
respite to the harassed and suffering Moors. The
mighty interests of an empire which extended over
two worlds engrossed the attention of Philip II., and
he had, at first, no time to devote to the persecution of
a handful of alleged heretics lost in a corner of his
vast dominions. The Roman Pontiff, who, perhaps
influenced by motives of humanity, but certainly not
absolutely free from political bias or resentment for
the outrage inflicted by the Emperor upon the Holy
See, had always discountenanced his oppression of
the Moriscoes, now heartily co-operated with Philip
in alleviating the misery of their condition. A brief
issued from the Vatican in 1556 empowered confess-
ors to absolve from the offence of heresy without pen-
ance, and deprived the Inquisition of the greater part
of its jurisdiction and authority. The nature of the
young King had not yet been corrupted by absolute
power; nor were his actions now controlled by that
morose and pitiless spirit subsequently developed by
remorse, disease, and bigotry, which, added to the
hereditary taint of insanity which afflicted his family,
rendered him, during the greater portion of his life,
one of the most unfeeling monsters that has ever dis-
graced a throne.
The beneficial effects of leniency upon the Moris-
coes, as contrasted with the employment of violent
measures, were soon disclosed. They conformed, with
seeming alacrity, to the often vexatious regulations
imposed upon their conduct. They wore the Spanish
costume; they adopted, in all public transactions at
least, the use of the Castilian language. Colleges
were founded for their instruction by devout and en-
terprising prelates. Their children, male and female,
were educated in the schools, and assumed the eccle-
266 History of the
siastical habit of the various monastic orders within
whose jurisdiction they were enrolled. From Morisco
seminaries missionaries went forth to instruct and rec-
oncile their doubting countrymen. In imitation of
their patrons, they founded and supported religious
brotherhoods. Their professions were apparently sin-
cere ; they began to perform their duties with scrupu-
lous regularity ; and it seemed as if at last the hitherto
delusive hope of Moslem conversion was about to be
realized. But the spirit of ferocious intolerance, ever
predominant in the Spanish character, and which in
the sixteenth century amounted to a frenzy, regarded
with anything but complacency the indulgent con-
sideration extended towards the unhappy objects of
hereditary aversion. With this sentiment generally
prevalent, fresh pretexts for encroachment were easily
invented. In 1560 the assistance of the government
was invoked by the Christians of Granada to restrain
the purchase of slaves by the Moriscoes, who, it was
stated, were in the habit of instructing their servants
secretly in the doctrines of Islam and thereby multi-
plying the number of its adherents, to the scandal of
the Church and the prejudice of the royal authority.
No attempt was made to ascertain the truth or falsity
of this accusation, and the Moriscoes were deprived,
by royal decree, of the right of possessing slaves, a
measure seriously affecting the rural and domestic
economy of the entire population of Granada, which
was dependent upon the cultivation of the soil by a
multitude of negroes held by the JNIoorish farmers in
servitude.
In addition to this virtual confiscation of property
for no valid cause and without indemnity, the Moors
were compelled to produce the arms whose posses-
sion had already been licensed, in order to have them
stamped by the government, and thus contribute still
further to the gratification of official greed. The
Moorish Empire in Europe 267
penalty incurred for the possession of a weapon with-
out permission was six years in the galleys ; that for
counterfeiting the royal stamp was death. The en-
forcement of these regulations, the first of which
threatened to paralyze agricultural labor, the princi-
pal occupation of the Moriscoes and the main depend-
ence of the revenues of the crown, exasperated beyond
endurance those affected by their enactment. The
loss of their slaves impoverished many. Some surren-
dered their arms and procured others clandestinely.
Others enlisted in the organized bands of outlaws who,
under the name of monfis, roamed through the sierras
and levied at will contributions upon the wealthy
Spaniards of the Vega. Many of these brigands,
through the connivance of their sympathizers, entered
the capital by night in force, bore away the wives and
children of their enemies, and left in the squares and
highways the mutilated corpse of every Christian they
encountered. The numbers of the monfis increased
with alarming rapidity. Their incursions began to
resemble the operations of an organized army; prep-
arations for an insurrection were secretly instituted,
and the assistance of the rulers of Fez, Algiers, and
Constantinople was earnestly solicited in behalf of
those who represented themselves as persecuted Mo-
hammedans, abandoned without any other resource to
the tyranny of Christian avarice and power.
Untaught by experience and regardless of conse-
quences, the officials of the various civil and eccle-
siastical tribunals pursued their extortionate policy
without pity or restraint. The competition existing
between them, and the adverse claims involving con-
tested jurisdiction and disputed plunder which con-
stantly arose, often caused serious conflicts of author-
ity, from which the representatives of the Church and
the Inquisition generally emerged victorious. These
quarrels between these two classes of oppressors em-
268 History of the
bittered them both against their common victims, and
dissension increased instead of alleviating the suffer-
ings of the latter. To make their situation even more
desperate, the decree of Charles V., promulgated in
1526, was now put in force by the King. The Moris-
coes, unable longer to sustain the grievous exactions
which they well understood were but preliminaries to
the expulsion of their race, now rapidly matured their
plans of rebellion. In the accomplishment of this
they displayed extraordinary tact and shrewdness. A
considerable estate had been granted to them in the
neighborhood of Granada for the erection of a hos-
pital. Under pretence of soliciting funds for its com-
pletion, trusty emissaries of revolt were despatched to
every Moorish community of the kingdom. The col-
lectors employed in this dangerous service visited in
their journey one hundred and ten thousand families.
The incorruptible faith of the Moors and their loy-
alty to their race were unprecedented ; for among the
multitudes intrusted with a secret for which a traitor
would have received a fortune not a single individual
abused the confidence of his countrymen. The entire
sum obtained by this means is not known; it must,
however, have been amply sufficient, for the contribu-
tions of those who were fit for military service alone
amounted to forty-five thousand pieces of gold.
Messengers were next despatched to Africa to pur-
chase arms. Secret and well-organized communica-
tion was perfected. The election of a leader now
became imperative. In the old Moorish capital there
lived a young man of amiable disposition and excel-
lent mental capacity, but of prodigal and licentious
habits, named Don Fernando de Valor, in whose veins
coursed the blood of the famous Ommeyade dynasty
of Cordova. A prince by birth, and enjoying the
greatest popularity as a citizen, his prominence in the
community had secured for him a place among the
Moorish Empire in Europe 269
councillors who, under the constitution granted by the
crown, assisted in the nominal government of the city.
Although his dissolute manners and frivolous associa-
tions exempted him from the suspicion of the authori-
ties, and his public observance of religious ceremonies
stamped him as an orthodox believer, he had not for-
gotten the glorious traditions of his royal line, and in
spite of his apparent sloth was active, brave, aspiring,
and unscrupulous. In the house of a wealthy resident
of the Albaycin, and within a stone's throw of the in-
quisitorial palace, the chiefs of the conspiracy con-
ferred upon this youth the perilous honor of leading
a hopeless insurrection. With all the ceremonial of
the ancient klialifate, he was invested with the royal
insignia; his new subjects rendered him obeisance; he
named the dignitaries of his court, and the assemblage
invoked the blessing of heaven upon the Servant of
Allah and the Representative of the Prophet, Muley
Mohammed-Ibn-Ommeyah, King of Granada and
Andalusia! The performance of this farcical cere-
mony neither inspired confidence nor awakened enthu-
siasm among the Moriscoes of the city. The character
of the personage selected to re-establish the glories of
Moslem dominion was too well known in Granada to
arouse any other sentiments than those of ridicule and
contempt. Intolerable as their condition was, the
wealthy Moors hesitated to hazard their lives and
property in support of a cause in whose success they
had little faith ; and the populace, while ever prone to
riot, waited patiently for the signal from their supe-
riors. For this reason, although several uprisings
were projected, and even the hours of their accom-
plishment appointed, popular indecision and apathy
rendered all designs abortive.
In the Alpuj arras, where everything was already
upon a hostile footing, the case was different, and
the wild mountaineers hailed with enthusiasm the ad-
270 History of the
vent of a sovereign and the welcome prospect of war
and depredation. The tempest of rebellion burst
forth at once in every settlement of the sierras. The
excesses committed by the insurgents are incredible in
their atrocity and worthy of a race of savages. Their
animosity was especially directed against the priests,
whom they considered as the instigators and the in-
struments of their misfortunes. Some had their
mouths stuffed with gunpowder and their heads blown
to atoms. Others were compelled to sit before the
altar while their former parishioners tore out the hairs
of their heads and eyebrows one by one and then
slashed them to death with knives and razors. Others,
still, were subjected to ingenious tortures and barbar-
ous mutilation; compelled to swallow their own eyes,
which had been torn from the sockets ; to be gradually
dismembered ; to have their tongues and hearts cut out
and thrown to dogs. Hundreds of monks were
seethed in boiling oil. Nuns were subjected to shock-
ing indignities and then tortured to death. The
glaring hypocrisy in which the Moriscoes had been
living was disclosed by their conduct as soon as they
believed themselves emancipated from the restraints
under which they had chafed so long. They exulted
in every form of sacrilege. Dressed in sacerdotal
habiliments, they travestied the solemn ceremonies of
the mass. They defiled and trampled upon the Host.
The churches were filled with laughing, jeering
crowds that polluted every portion of the sanctuary.
Sacred images, donated by pious monarchs and
blessed by famous prelates, were broken to pieces and
burnt. Ecclesiastical hatred had, as an indispensable
sign of regeneration, forced all Moslem converts to
eat pork, a kind of food doubly offensive from inher-
ited prejudice and Koranic prohibition. In retalia-
tion for this annoying requirement, the insurgents,
with mock solemnity, and invested with all the para-
Moorish Empire in Europe 271
phernalia of Catholic worship, sacrificed hogs upon
the Christian altars. Every form of violence, every
outrage which newly-found freedom exasperated by
the memory of long-continued injury could devise,
was perpetrated by the enraged Moriscoes. So un-
bridled was their fury that even the common usages
of war were constantly violated; prisoners taken in
battle were put to death without mercy, and it was
publicly declared that not a Christian should be left
alive within the insurgent territory. This resolution,
promulgated without his knowledge, was discounte-
nanced by Ibn-Ommeyah, and he deposed the com-
manders who had by their arbitrary conduct and im-
politic cruelty insulted the honor of his crown, but not
until irreparable wrong had been committed.
The news of the insurrection, the exaggeration of
its extent, and the horrors which followed in its train
produced a general panic in Granada. All Christians
who could do so took refuge in the Alhambra. The
Moriscoes, in vain protesting their innocence, barri-
caded themselves in their houses, and such as impru-
dently ventured into the streets perished at the hands
of the infuriated mob. The contest of jurisdiction
which had so long existed between the civil and mili-
tary authorities, each of whom claimed the supremacy,
and neither of whom was willing to sacrifice his pre-
tensions, even in the face of a cunning and dangerous
enemy, added to the perplexities of the situation.
Thoroughly acquainted with the discord of their mas-
ters, the Moriscoes, alread}^ elated by the exploits of
their countrymen, of which they had early and accu-
rate intelligence, began to manifest a suspicious ac-
tivity. The prospect of war called to arms the turbu-
lent and dissolute spirits of the kingdom. The feudal
laws, which were still in force in the Peninsula, pre-
vented, through the disputes of the nobles for prece-
dence, that submission to authority requisite for sue-
272 History of the
cessful operations. With these independent bands
there was no question of patriotism; the national
standard was merely a rallying point for pillage, and
that commander was the most popular whose neglect
of discipline afforded the greatest opportunities for
unbounded license. These troops were commanded
by the Marquis de Monde jar, Governor of Granada,
and the Marquis de los Velez, both of whom were in-
debted rather to their names than to their qualifica-
tions for the prominence they enjoyed, for the one
was without discretion and the other without expe-
rience.
In the campaign that ensued every consideration of
military virtue, of pity, of humanity, was cast aside.
The Christians fought with an energy dictated by
fanaticism and rapacity, the Moors with all the reck-
less courage of despair. The Castilian officers, so far
from restraining the excesses of the soldiery, encour-
aged them in order to increase their ferocity and ren-
der reconciliation impossible till all the available booty
could be secured. The Moors of Granada paid dearly
for the apathy with which they had received the over-
tures of their more daring countrymen. The lawless
rabble of the Spanish camp, which recognized no re-
straint but that of superior force, was quartered upon
the wealthy citizens of the Albaycin. It is notorious
that even the plain-spoken old chroniclers of the time
blushed to record the outrages inflicted by these sav-
age volunteers, callous to every appeal of decency or
honor. An extraordinary tax of six thousand ducats
was imposed upon the Albaycin for the purpose of
provisioning the army; and the Moorish farmers of
the Vega were compelled under heavy penalties to
furnish every day twenty thousand pounds of bread
at a price arbitrarily fixed by the authorities. Thus
the unhappy Moriscoes of the capital, too timorous to
second an attempt to regain their independence, were
Moorish Empire in Europe 273
forced to contribute to the discomfiture of their
friends, to undergo unspeakable insults and frightful
suffering, and in the end to sacrifice their property
and in many instances their lives as the result of their
distrust of a cause which lack of intelligent co-opera-
tion rendered hopeless from the very beginning. The
activity of the Spanish generals, and the superiority
in numbers of their troops, soon gained for them the
advantage. The campaign resolved itself into a suc-
cession of skirmishes and marauding expeditions,
whose monotony was occasionally relieved by promis-
cuous butchery. In consequence of a disturbance pro-
voked by the insolent conduct of a Spanish soldier,
thirteen hundred prisoners, of whom a thousand were
women, were massacred at the Castle of Jubiles. The
plans of the royal commanders were hampered by the
insubordination of the soldiery ; their insatiable greed
placed the army in desperate situations, whence by
good fortune alone it could be extricated, and the fre-
quency of desertion seriously threatened the efficiency
of a force unrestrained either by self-respect or mili-
tary law. Driven from point to point, the army of
Ibn-Ommeyah was finally beaten and dispersed. The
Alpuj arras were occupied by lines of fortified posts,
which prevented the assembling of any considerable
body of insurgents; the mountaineers of the adjacent
sierras were gradually reduced to submission, and the
insurrection was at last only represented by the fugi-
tive prince and a handful of followers, whose fidelity
was sorely tried by the tempting reward offered for
the head of their sovereign.
The Moriscoes, terrified by the misfortunes which
they had undergone, offered, for the sake of present
security, to submit to any conditions that might be
imposed, to deportation, to exile, to confiscation, to
the maintenance of the troops that might be detailed
as their guards against future hostility. Different
Vol. III. 18
274 History of the
and irreconcilable opinions prevailed among the offi-
cials of the crown as to the policy to be adopted ; one
party advocated amnesty, another extermination. In
the mean time, while their superiors were wrangling,
the soldiers pursued without interruption the agreeable
diversion of rapine. Although hostilities had ceased,
small bands of military brigands roamed everywhere
without control, robbing houses, destroying property,
ravishing women. Inoffensive peasants, who had
never borne arms, were seized, carried to Granada,
and publicly sold as slaves in the markets of the
city by these outlaws, with the knowledge and con-
nivance of the authorities. The latter quarrelled over
the division of the spoil and the questionable distinc-
tion acquired by conflagration and massacre. No
faith was kept with the vanquished. Safe-conducts
signed by the highest officials were not respected. No
Morisco was exempt from molestation and violence;
no house was secure from the intrusion of prowling
and bloodthirsty ruffians. When a body of Christian
troops passed through a Moorish community every-
thing portable departed with it, the rest was burned.
There was deliberate method in this wholesale destruc-
tion of property. The army desired nothing so little
as peace. War had been profitable even beyond ex-
pectation. The booty already secured was immense,
but the greater portion had as yet escaped the avarice
of the conqueror. The general and the common sol-
dier alike cast longing glances upon the wealth of the
Albaycin; upon the productive estates of the Vega,
still cultivated by Moorish industry; upon the untold
wealth in gold and jewels known to be hoarded by
the residents of Guadix, Baza, and Almeria. Leaving
all else out of consideration, the Moriscoes themselves,
who numbered more than half a million, if condemned
to slavery, would realize a prodigious sum. These
were the sinister motives which urged an indefinite
Moorish Empire in Europe 275
prosecution of the war, and it was not long before the
desired object was attained. The Moriscoes, driven
to despair by the dupHcity of their enemies whose
violence they could not resist, again fled to the moun-
tains and sought the standard of Ibn-Ommeyah. The
Spanish mob of Granada, excited by rumors of con-
spiracy, at once massacred the defenceless Moorish
occupants of the prisons to the number of several hun-
dred. Their personal effects were appropriated by the
governor; their lands were confiscated for the benefit
of the crown; and their widows and orphans were
reduced to beggary. A judgment of the court subse-
quently obtained confirmed this arbitrary act, stating
that its decision was based upon the fact that, " while
some of the prisoners were actually guilty, all were
guilty in intention." The affair was regarded as a
suggestive warning, and in the future the insurgents
did not receive or expect assistance from their friends
in Granada.
Once more the flames of war were kindled in the
sierras, and the scenes of indiscriminate butchery were
resumed. The power of Ibn-Ommeyah, strengthened
by thousands of desperate men fleeing from perse-
cution, by the monfis, by the corsairs, and by numbers
of savage adventurers from the northern coast of
Africa, now became more formidable than ever. That
power he exercised with ferocious severity. The dis-
cipline of his troops was improved. Marauding
parties of Christians from the principal cities were
surprised and cut to pieces. Prominent officials who
had ventured to advocate surrender were promptly
executed for treason. The discouraging and hitherto
hopeless task of enlisting the sympathy and aid of
the Mohammedan princes of Fez and Algiers was
resumed, but with no better prospect of success than
before.
Philip, fully informed of the incapacity and mu-
276 History of the
tual distrust of those hitherto charged with the gov-
ernment of Granada, now determined to commit the
subjection of the rebels to a general whose rank and
talents would command the obedience and check the
insubordination of the ill-disciplined bands composing
the bulk of the Spanish army. Don John of Austria,
his half-brother, the natural son of Charles V., a youth
whose opportunities had as yet given little indication
of the military genius he possessed, but in whom dis-
cerning eyes had already perceived the existence of
those brilliant qualities subsequently displayed with
such lustre at Lepanto, was assigned to the command.
The greatest enthusiasm was aroused by this ap-
pointment. Nobles and peasants alike, ambitious of
serving under a prince of the blood, flocked by hun-
dreds to the royal standard. The new commander,
although inexperienced, perfected his arrangements
with all the caution and skill of a veteran. The army
was thoroughly reorganized. Disorder was checked.
Outlaws and beggars were expelled from the camp.
As far as the annoying feudal regulations would
permit, discipline was enforced. Licensed brig-
andage, which had done so much to destroy the effi-
ciency of the troops, was punished with impartial
rigor. Under these improved conditions the army,
which had hitherto resembled a disorderly mob, now
assumed the appearance of a compact and formidable
force. Meanwhile, the insurgents had not been idle.
Instructed by experience and adversity, Ibn-Omme-
yah introduced many necessary reforms into his civil
and military administration; purchased arms in
Africa; invited the presence of corsairs; procured
supplies; and, dividing his territory into districts
whose arrangement facilitated mutual support and
defence, awaited with resolution and confidence the
approach of the enemy. The first operations of the
campaign were favorable to the Moriscoes, whose
Moorish Empire in Europe 277
successes, while neither material nor decisive, never-
theless resulted in substantial additions to their ranks.
Although able to bring several thousand men into the
field, their want of artillery, ignorance of engineer-
ing science, and traditional dependence on partisan
warfare made their victories worthless. The latter
were obtained in skirmishes where but a few hundreds
were engaged, the nature of the ground and the op-
portunities for surprise giving unperceived assailants
the advantage.
Irritated by these reverses, a decisive step, long con-
templated, and frequently from politic motives post-
poned, was now resolved upon by the government.
The rumor of impending revolt was diligently circu-
lated throughout Granada. As no evidence was sub-
sequently disclosed to confirm this report, it was prob-
ably entirely fictitious, but it accomplished the object
for which it was promulgated. A panic seized the
excitable populace, and a universal demand arose for
the expulsion of the Moriscoes. The authorities were
quick to profit by the commotion and the fears which
their own perfidy aroused ; and, at a concerted signal,
twenty thousand arquebusiers, with lighted fuses, oc-
cupied the approaches to the Albaycin. The Mo-
riscoes, when ordered to assemble in their churches,
anticipating a massacre, abandoned themselves to
despair. It required all the influence of the municipal
authorities, and the royal word of Don John of
Austria himself that their lives would be spared, to
reassure the terror-stricken prisoners. Crowded to-
gether in the aisles, they passed an agonizing and
sleepless night. The next morning the males between
the ages of ten and sixty years, with their hands bound
behind them, were conducted outside the walls, where
a decree of perpetual banishment was pronounced
against them and their kindred. A few days of grace
were accorded to these unfortunates to dispose of, or
278 History of the
rather to sacrifice, their personal property ; and then,
divided into several companies, each escorted by a
strong guard, they began their journey towards cen-
tral Andalusia, Estremadura, and Castile, whither, for
purposes of security, it had been decided to conduct
them.
The exiles were about eleven thousand in number.
They included the descendants of the wealthiest and
noblest Moorish families of Granada, and, indeed, of
the entire Peninsula. Many of them traced their
ancestry back to the princely families of the Idialif ate,
eminent alike for intellectual accomplishments and
military renown. In their keeping were the ancient
traditions of their race; the rare memorials of the
Moslem conquest and domination; the remnants of
Arabic literature which had escaped the destructive
zeal of Ximenes and the exhaustive search of prying
alguazils and inquisitors. Their houses still displayed
the splendid decorations peculiar to the palmy days
of the emirate ; marble halls and alabaster fountains ;
hangings of embossed and gilded leather; stuccoes
that in elegance of design and delicacy of execution
equalled those of the Alhambra. In the Vega were
many estates, cultivated by their dependents, which
returned each year a large and profitable income. All
of these landed possessions were unceremoniously
appropriated by the Spaniards, and the personal
effects sold by the exiles yielded scarcely a tithe of
their value. Driven by force from their homes, and
despoiled on every side, the JNIoriscoes pursued their
sorrowful way. Reared in comfort and affluence and
accustomed to luxury, they were ill-fitted for a long
and toilsome journey. Few of the multitude that
started arrived at their destination. The hardships
incident to travel and exposure to the burning heat
proved fatal to hundreds. Many expired from grief,
from hunger, from disease. Others were wantonly
Moorish Empire in Europe 279
killed by their guards, who plundered, without hesi-
tancy or compunction, both the living and the dead.
When this source of profit was exhausted, the strong-
est men and the most attractive women were sold as
slaves. The condition of the few survivors who ar-
rived at Seville was so deplorable that even the com-
passion of ecclesiastics, whose lives had been passed
in the infliction of persecution and torture, was ex-
cited. The greater portion of the inhabitants, how-
ever, regarded these victims of tyranny with indiffer-
ence or curiosity. The sufferings of tender youth, of
decrepit age, of beauty in distress, awakened no sym-
pathy; and if any feelings were exhibited by the
throngs that lined the highways along which, under
a scorching sun, the fainting exiles staggered, they
were those of bitter enmity and of exultation at the
misfortunes of heretics who had forfeited all title to
humanity through the inherited blood of a despised
and conquered race.
No beneficial consequences resulted from this meas-
ure, as cruel as it was unwise. The insurgents con-
tinued their depredations. Every straggler was killed ;
and no foraging party whose force was less than that
of a regiment could hope to return. The Moriscoes
by degrees became more daring, and it was no longer
safe for individuals to venture beyond the limits of
the camp. The encounters were all to the advantage
of the rebels; and the great city of Almeria, by the
merest accident, escaped falling into their hands. The
latter, however, were not only unable to cope with the
entire power of the Spanish monarchy, but were even
unprovided with the means necessary for the reten-
tion of their paltry conquests. Even in a situation
where unity was more than ever indispensable to self-
preservation, the irrepressible tendency of the Arab
mind to factional disturbance began to manifest itself.
Nine centuries of national disaster had been insuffi-
280 History of the
cient to repress the tribal hatred and the thirst for
private vengeance which had sapped the vitahty and
finally torn into fragments the realm of a vast and
splendid empire. The Moor was incapable of profit-
ing by experience. The law of reprisal, that accursed
legacy of his Bedouin forefathers, had never been
lost sight of, even amidst all the culture and all the
wisdom of his civiUzation. It was the most powerful
and effective weapon that his enemies possessed, and
it was eternally used to his prejudice. To its aid the
Reconquest was far more indebted than to the energy
of Alfonso VI. or to the craft of Ferdinand the
Catholic. It won more battles than all the conquer-
ing sovereigns from Pelayus to Isabella. No Cas-
tilian prince had ever failed to recognize its impor-
tance or to profit by its employment. And now, in
the remote Alpuj arras, the last resort of Moorish
valor and ambition, it was again to be wielded with
even more fatal and demorahzing effects than had
ever marked its use since the troublous epoch which
followed the decline of the Ommeyade supremacy.
The popularity of Ibn-Ommeyah had of late
greatly suffered through the strictness of the dis-
cipline which he had inaugurated and the oppressive
acts of his advisers, for the most part men of obscure
lineage and grasping avarice. The soldiers, accus-
tomed to the exercise of the greatest freedom in their
conduct and in their treatment of the enemy, viewed
with unconcealed disgust the restraints to which they
were subjected. In the councillors of their king, the
rich Moriscoes, who had forfeited their lives and ex-
pended their treasure in sustaining his pretensions,
saw a band of robbers, who abused the opportunities
of their positions for their own pecuniary benefit.
Especially were those whose wealth made them con-
spicuous the objects of the selfish animadversion of
these base-born officials. No person of eminence,
Moorish Empire in Europe 281
whether civihan or military officer, was safe from the
denunciation of informers. The experience of Ibn-
Ommeyah, and his frequent escapes from premedi-
tated treachery, had made him impulsive, vindictive,
and cruel. Constantly exposed to danger, he was only
too ready to listen to the voice of suspicion, and in
the court of a despot the punishment follows swiftly
upon the accusation. Besides the alienation of many
of his principal adherents from the above-mentioned
causes, Ibn-Ommeyah had recently gained for him-
self, by an egregious act of folly, the enmity of one
of the most powerful tribes in the kingdom.
Among the most distinguished families of Granada
was that of the Beni-Alguazil-al-Karimi, in which
was vested, by hereditary right, the office of vizier of
the district of Ujijar. Inherited rivalry, the pride
of conscious merit, and the jealousy of power had
made the Beni-Alguazil the enemies of the house of
Ibn-Ommeyah. Their hostility, manifested upon
more than one occasion, had aroused the apprehen-
sions of the Moorish prince; and the assassination of
Miguel de Rojas, the chief of the tribe, was, not with-
out probability, attributed to his instigation. In con-
sequence, the Beni-Alguazil, while unwilling to assist
the Christian foe, maintained a suspicious and sullen
demeanor, and, with the characteristic vindictiveness
of the Arab, awaited patiently the moment of reprisal.
With a perfidy natural to his character, and from
the effects of which he was ultimately destined to
perish, Ibn-Ommeyah had adopted the custom of pro-
moting to favor and apparent confidence those whom
he had already marked for destruction. Among those
who shared this perilous honor was Diego Alguazil,
a member of the rival clan, whose animosity had been
soothed by the gifts and the consideration he received
at the hands of his sovereign. In his harem was a
lovely slave, the perfection of whose charms, impru-
282 History of the
dently disclosed by her master, aroused the curiosity
and inflamed the desires of Ibn-Ommeyah. Consid-
erations of poHcy or justice were of trifling moment
where the ungovernable passions of the Moorish king
were concerned; the slave was rudely appropriated
without apology or compensation; and this arbitrary
invasion of the rights of a subject raised up for Ibn-
Ommeyah an implacable enemy. The ambition of
the beautiful Zahra, who aspired to the position of
Sultana, was disappointed by her continuance in an
inferior rank, and, her hopes thus blasted, she found
in her former master a pliant and serviceable instru-
ment of revenge. The support of other malcontents,
dissatisfied with the cruelty and arrogance of their
king, was readily secured; the fears of the royal
guard of six hundred Turks were excited by an in-
genious, but discreditable, stratagem; and Ibn-Om-
meyah, torn from the arms of his women and thrown
into prison, perished miserably before morning at the
hands of the executioner. His death seemed not en-
tirelj^ unjustifiable, for he proclaimed with his last
breath his secret and unshaken belief in the Christian
religion. The hypocrisy, which, for the sake of lux-
ury and power, could feign attachment to a creed that
upon the slightest pretext it was ready to betray, was
not unworthily punished by the treachery of a slave.
Ibn-Abu, a cousin of Ibn-Ommeyah, succeeded to the
empty honors and dangerous responsibilities of a tot-
tering throne. The treasures of the palace and the
seraglio were divided among the conspirators. The
guards, whose fidelity to the new administration was
suspected, were disbanded; the unpopular officials,
deprived of the power which they had abused and the
wealth which they had accumulated by extortion and
perfidy, were despoiled and exiled ; and the new King,
crowned at Lanjar with all the pomp which the lim-
ited resources that a fugitive court and an impover-
Moorish Empire in Europe 283
ished treasury could command, assumed, with an ap-
pearance of confidence, the direction of a government
divided against itself and confronted with the com-
bined and resistless power of the Spanish monarchy.
Ibn-Abu, when invested with the royal dignity, of
whose precarious character he was perfectly aware,
but whose acceptance he was afraid to refuse, was far
past the prime of life. In the course of an eventful
and romantic career, he had undergone many exciting
and hazardous experiences. From his youth iden-
tified with the party hostile to the Christians, his
fidelity to the Moslem cause had been severely tested
on numerous occasions. Implicated with the monfis,
he had submitted to torture and had been sent to the
galleys rather than betray his comrades. Again, for
refusing to disclose the hiding-place of his sovereign,
he was subjected to a shocking and indescribable mu-
tilation. His sufferings had confirmed his loyalty and
intensified his hatred; the noble qualities with which
he was endowed endeared him to his countrymen ; but
his indecision, his lack of energy, and his inability to
profit by the means at his disposal in the presence of
any sudden exigency unfitted him for the position of
responsibility to which he had been so unexpectedly
promoted. In spite of the disadvantages under which
he labored, he, however, soon placed his forces upon a
more effective footing, and his position was greatly
strengthened by the discord of his enemies.
The reforms inaugurated by Don John of Austria
proved impracticable when their full import became
known to the soldiers and they began to experience
the inconveniences attendant upon military restraint.
Feudal customs also interfered with the enforcement
of discipline; and the lords, fearful of a retrench-
ment of their own privileges, indulged their vassals
in acts of rapine prejudicial to the well-being of the
entire army. The quarrels and recriminations of the
284 History of the
Marquis de Monde jar and the Marquis de los Velez,
so far from being extinguished by the appointment
of a commander-in-chief, became more aggravated
and violent than ever. The power of the latter was
hampered by contradictory orders from Madrid, and
the prosecution of energetic measures was prevented
by incessant and acrimonious disputes. As soon as
the prospect of booty was diminished, the army was
threatened with dissolution. Desertions were so com-
mon and their effect was so demoralizing that all re-
views were abandoned, in order that the enemy might
not become acquainted with the diminished numbers
of their antagonists. Scores of officers were cashiered
for peculation ; but their successors, unintimidated by
the penalty, followed, without hesitation, their dis-
graceful example. In the markets of the city, the
government supplies were publicly exposed for sale
by the commissaries. The camp was filled with spies.
Not only had many Moriscoes enlisted with the object
of betraying their comrades, but the Spaniards them-
selves constantly sold both official secrets and arms to
the rebels. Entire garrisons mutinied because of the
necessary precautions instituted by their commanders ;
and it was not unusual for parties organized for rob-
bery to leave their posts in violation of the express
orders of the general. Of these marauders few re-
turned, but their fate failed to deter others ; the love
of plunder prevailed over every other incentive; and
the safety of the troops was often jeopardized by the
misconduct of unprincipled adventurers, whose inso-
lence and insubordination even the highest authority
seemed unable to restrain. These breaches of order
and discipline were by no means confined to the ranks ;
every grade of the military was affected; and no less
a personage than the Marquis de los Velez himself
assumed the right to act independently of the com-
mander-in-chief, and to disregard all orders from
Moorish Empire in Europe 285
head-quarters unless they suited his convenience or
promoted his interest.
The army of Ibn-Abu amounted to twelve thousand
men, of whom four thousand were thoroughly drilled
arquebusiers. This force, though for the most part
well equipped, experienced in war, aided by the advan-
tages of situation, and fighting for liberty on its own
ground, was unable to accomplish any important re-
sult, even when engaged with a demoralized enemy.
The achievements of the Moriscoes, limited to the
blockade of a few fortresses and to marauding expe-
ditions that harassed the cultivators of the Vega, are
scarcely worthy of notice, still less of detailed nar-
ration. In the vicinity of Orgiba and Baza their
troops appeared in force, but retired at once at the
approach of the Christians. It was only by the prac-
tice of treacherous methods that the Moorish tactics
ever prevailed. The want of stability and resolution
which had proved fatal to the permanence of the
Hispano-Arab empire survived in the final operations
of the Morisco rebellion. The superior steadiness of
the Spanish infantry invariably carried the day, even
against overwhelming odds. The Moors were easily
disheartened ; after a trifling repulse it was impossible
to rally them ; and, even when protected by fortifica-
tions, they could not withstand the dogged pertinacity
which was a prominent trait of the Castilian.
With the appearance of Don John of Austria in
the field, hostilities were prosecuted with more rigor
and with greater cruelty. The unimportant but
bloody successes of the Moors had infused into the
Spanish soldiery an even more pitiless spirit than be-
fore. The Austrian prince, at first disposed to leni-
ency, soon became, through association and prejudice,
as unfeeling as the meanest soldier in the ranks. The
siege and assault of Galera, which was the turning-
point of the war, exemplified, in a striking degree, the
286 History of the
dominant principle which actuated the minds of those
M^ho directed the campaign. That town, situated upon
an isolated rock, was one of the most strongly fortified
places in Spain. In addition to its position, its facili-
ties for defence were excellent. Its garrison was com-
posed of three thousand veterans. Its supplies were
ample, and the prudence of Ibn-Abu, who fully ap-
preciated its value, had long before filled to overflow-
ing its magazine and its arsenal. Two falconets,
one of which had been captured from the Marquis
de los Velez, defended the castle, an unusual advan-
tage, for the Moriscoes were generally unprovided
even with such insignificant artillery. A concealed
gallery cut through the mountain, and extending
below the bed of the river at its base, provided the
inhabitants with water, whose existence, unknown to
the enemy, made its destruction impossible. In addi-
tion to the garrison, the walls of Galera sheltered a
population of five thousand, including residents and
refugees.
Every precaution that skill and experience could
suggest had been adopted to strengthen the defences
of a place regarded as already impregnable. Barri-
cades were erected at frequent intervals in the streets,
and between them the houses were pierced with open-
ings, to facilitate communication and afford means
of retreat. The town, built in terraces upon the
sloping rock, offered an ascending series of lines of
resistance. Those ordinarily considered as non-com-
batants were animated by a spirit of determination
equal, if not superior, to that of the garrison, and
their presence promised to be an important aid rather
than a drawback in the impending contest.
Twelve thousand men, commanded by Don John
of Austria in person, invested Galera on the eigh-
teenth day of January, 1570. The approaches to the
town were defended with stubborn resolution. When
Moorish Empire in Europe 287
forced behind the walls, it became evident that the
position of the Moriscoes was so strong that ordinary
methods of assault must prove useless. Mining was
therefore resorted to; and a passage, terminating
under the citadel, was cut with infinite trouble through
the solid rock. As soon as it was completed, a storm-
ing party was detailed for the attack, and the explo-
sion of forty-five barrels of gunpowder announced
that the mine had been sprung. Little damage was
done to the castle, however; the walls remained in-
tact; and the Spaniards were driven back with heavy
loss. Two other mines were opened and exploded,
and three assaults were made simultaneously. One
explosion effected some injury, but the ruins raised
by the other counteracted it; the loss of the insur-
gents was trifling; and again the Spaniards sustained
a bloody and serious repulse.
Another charge, in which the besiegers infuriated
by the fall of their general, who was struck by a
bullet which his armor of proof fortunately deflected
succeeded in passing the ramparts, procured for
them admission into the streets. Here thej'- were met
by scarcely less formidable obstacles, and their ad-
vance was, foot by foot, contested. Amidst these
frightful scenes, the people of Galera vied in gal-
lantry with the soldiers of the garrison. Old men
fought bravely in the foremost line for the preserva-
tion of their homes. The wounded and dying re-
ceived the grateful ministrations of delicate women,
who fearlessly exposed themselves to fire in the dis-
charge of the offices of mercy. Even children of
tender years, undismayed by the smoke and din of
battle, carried missiles to repel the enemy. The con-
test soon assumed the character of a hand-to-hand
encounter. The barricaded streets, the battlemented
houses built of stone and with few openings
checked at each step the progress of the assailants.
288 History of the
For nine hours with incessant fury the battle raged.
At length the survivors were driven into an angle of
the fortifications from whence there was no escape.
Here, in the face of a relentless foe, the Moriscoes
made their final stand, without the hope of clemency
or the fear of death. Young girls died, scimetar in
hand, with a resolution foreign to their age and sex.
Fathers deliberately killed their wives and children,
and then rushed forward to perish on the weapons of
the Spaniards. Even the veterans of Italy, accus-
tomed to the atrocities characteristic of the wars of
the sixteenth century, were sickened by the frightful
carnage. The population was almost annihilated.
Of eight thousand persons who had composed it,
fifteen hundred women and children alone survived
the final assault, which, not inclusive of the losses of
the besiegers, cost thirty-six hundred lives. The ava-
rice of the victors had spared four hundred helpless
captives, whom Don John of Austria, enraged at the
casualties which his army had suffered, caused to be
butchered in his presence. In this diabolical massacre
the halberdiers of the royal guard took a conspicuous
part, encouraged by the approving gestures of their
commander, who regarded with pious complacency
the extermination of these rebellious infidels.
The siege of Galera is memorable, not only on ac-
count of the gallantry of the defence, but also from
the fact that it indicates the true beginning of the
military career of the future hero of Lepanto. While
in reality reflecting but little credit upon the reputa-
tion of that prince, the popularity he acquired by the
achievement discloses the moral perversity of the pub-
lic mind in that fanatical age. Not a word was uttered
in censure of the savage vindictiveness directed against
the aged and the helpless, a class whose condition
appeals to the most generous impulses of mankind,
but whose fate was universally applauded by bigots
Moorish Empike in Europe 289
of every degree, as one step more towards the extir-
pation of heresy. A spirit of inherent deviltry
seemed to distinguish for centuries the princes of
the monarchy estabhshed by Ferdinand and Isabella.
The progressive decadence of that monarchy from
the day of its foundation imperceptible at first, and
concealing the incurable defects of the Castilian polity
by the spurious glory of unprofitable wars and ruin-
ous triumphs, and the genuine splendors of unparal-
leled discoveries, whose proceeds were employed for
the oppression and debasement of countless millions
of human beings is one of the most significant and
instructive events in the history of mankind.
The capture of Galera was a dearly purchased vic-
tory. The character of the resistance offered by its
defenders did not afford a flattering prospect for the
success of similar enterprises in the future. Many
important strongholds, as difficult of approach, of
equal strength, and of larger population, were still
in the hands of the insurgents. The fate of the place,
while a warning, served rather to confirm the obsti-
nacy than to arouse the trepidation of the Moriscoes.
Their dauntless courage had left hundreds of their
enemies on the field. The bodies of Moor and Chris-
tian alike strewed the ramparts; and in the streets
through which had surged the ever-advancing tide
of battle had fallen many of the most distinguished
nobles in the Spanish service. Realizing the diffi-
culties he was liable to encounter, Don John made a
demand upon the King for men and money. Rein-
forcements were easily obtained, but only through the
clergy, who, as a rule, were always ready to profit by
a crusade, but who generally regarded their spiritual
aid as abundantly sufficient, and were never eager to
furnish substantial contributions, could funds for the
prosecution of the war be procured. This was accom-
phshed by the estabhshment of rehgious brotherhoods
Vol. III. 19
290 History or the
in every diocese, whose members, by the purchase of
indulgences, could thus perform a service of signal
merit to the Church and, at the same time, secure
absolution for their sins. The scheme proved remark-
ably successful; and larger sums were eventually
collected than those yielded by the sale of similar
concessions issued for this purpose directly from the
Holy See.
Papal influence, at that time predominant in Eu-
ropean politics, had, immediately after the storming
of Galera, tendered to the Austrian prince, through
Philip, the place of generalissimo of the Holy
League against the Turks. The vast international
interests which depended upon the proper exercise of
this office could not be neglected or their protection
deferred until after many months had been consumed
in suppressing the revolt of a few thousand rebels.
By that time the Ottoman fleet would have obtained
the supremacy of the Mediterranean, and an innu-
merable horde of bloodthirsty fanatics have descended
upon the continent of Europe. While military pres-
tige was presumably essential to one accepting a posi-
tion of such responsibility and power, the risks were
too great and the field too narrow to seek it in a cam-
paign of such doubtful results as that against the
Moriscoes. Peremptory orders were sent Don John
to hasten by diplomacy what it had been demonstrated
would be both difficult and tedious to secure by arms.
An attempt was therefore made to corriipt the fidelity
of Fernando-al-Habaqui, the favorite councillor of
Ibn-Abu, whose wisdom and discernment, like those
of many statesmen of his time, were superior to his
patriotism and integrity. In various interviews,
nominally appointed for purposes relating to the ex-
change of prisoners, the co-operation of this influ-
ential personage was obtained; he was promised an
unconditional pardon ; and the lives of those who sur-
Moorish Empire in Europe 291
rendered voluntarily were to be spared. As second
in command, he was enabled to control a large extent
of territory in the accomplishment of his treacherous
design; all the detachments of Morisco troops out-
side the Alpuj arras and within his jurisdiction were
suddenly withdrawn; the dismayed inhabitants were
abandoned to their fate; many of those taken were
reduced to slavery or sent to the galleys; some suc-
ceeded in escaping to the mountains; and the entire
district of the River Almanzora, thus driven to sub-
mission, yielded such a multitude of captives that the
general, unable to feed or control them, was com-
pelled to leave them unmolested until arrangements
could be made for their final disposition. A royal
decree recently promulgated had ordered the removal
of all the Moriscoes of the lately conquered districts
to Castile. This measure, nominally adopted for pub-
lic security, had, in fact, its origin in more ignoble
motives; in the country of the insurgents a consider-
able number of Moorish proprietors had succeeded,
amidst the general confusion, in retaining their
estates; and the effectual means of disposing of ob-
noxious neighbors by enforced migrations had demon-
strated its value when the Moriscoes of the Albaycin
had perished miserably on the highways. The un-
fortunate victims of state policy and religious per-
secution were surrounded and herded like cattle ; their
number is unrecorded, but it must have amounted to
thousands; the few effects which they possessed they
were generously permitted to sell for a trifle; and,
shelterless and almost naked, they were distributed
over the deserts of La Mancha, where the savage
peasantry, considering them as intruders, inflicted
upon these wretched exiles every outrage which ma-
lignity could devise or lawlessness execute. The
presence of the Moriscoes in Castile, at that time a
recent event, no doubt suggested to the fertile mind
292 History of the
of Cervantes one of the most entertaining episodes
in the crowning masterpiece of Spanish literature.
The remaining Morisco strongholds, contrary to
general expectation, and discouraged by the treason
of Al-Habaqui, were far from emulating the heroic
example of Galera. Seron, Purchena, Tijola, all
well-fortified towns, submitted without serious resist-
ance. Negotiations, now authorized by Ibn-Abu,
were still carried on with Al-Habaqui, whose treach-
ery does not seem to have destroyed the harmony
existing between himself and his sovereign. The
impatience of Don John for the termination of hos-
tilities induced him to publish a proclamation of
partial and conditional amnesty. Its terms granted
life to all, without distinction, who within twenty
days should surrender; promised that men between
the ages of fifteen and fifty, who within the specified
time should deliver to the proper officials an arque-
buse or a cross-bow, should not be sold as slaves ; and
required that the leaders of the revolt, and such as
were unwilling to take advantage of the proclama-
tion, should be given up as an indispensable prelimi-
nary to leniency towards those who submitted. The
ambiguity which pervaded the document caused it to
be regarded with suspicion, and the Moriscoes, who
had learned by repeated experience the duplicity of
their enemies, declined to accept conditions whose un-
certainty offered such inducements to abuse and mis-
construction, even if they had not been actually drawn
up for that purpose.
Unable any longer to cope with his adversaries in
the open field, Ibn-Abu adopted the more effective
policy of guerilla warfare. His army, divided into
strong detachments, was posted at advantageous
points whence the operations of the enemy could be
observed and communication easily maintained. In
this way the invaders were placed at a great disad-
Moorish Empire in Europe 293
vantage. The Moors retired before their advance;
the towns were evacuated; all property was removed
or concealed; convoys were cut off; and the army
of the Duke of Sesa, who commanded the Christians,
was almost reduced to extremity by famine. It be-
came absolutely necessary to establish a base of sup-
plies, and the Marquis of Favara was despatched with
a considerable force to Calahorra. The Spaniards
reached their destination in safety; but their move-
ments had not escaped the vigilance of the moun-
taineers; and their return march, conducted without
the precautions adopted by every wise commander,
encountered an ambuscade in the valley of Ravaha.
Here the road, so constructed that four men could
with difficulty move abreast, was blocked by loaded
beasts of burden, purposely left there by the Moors ;
and the soldiers, tempted by the hope of plunder,
broke into disorder to seize them. The measures of
Ibn-Abu had been taken with consummate skill. The
Spaniards, hopelessly entangled in the narrow defile
and completely surrounded, were ruthlessly slaugh-
tered. In former attacks the mountains had always re-
sounded with the piercing war-cries of the assailants,
but now not a sound, save the scattering reports of
arquebuses and the whistling of arrows, broke the
ominous stillness of the scene. The advance guard
and the centre had been destroyed before the Marquis
was even apprized of the presence of an enemy. He
effected his escape only by superhuman exertion, and
of the sixteen hundred soldiers who composed his
command fourteen hundred atoned for the military
crimes of official negligence and disregard of disci-
pline. On the Moorish side not a man was killed, and
less than twenty were wounded. History affords but
few parallels to the battle of Ravaha when both the
numbers engaged and the immunity of the victors are
considered.
294 History of the
This disaster compelled a precipitate retreat, and,
unmolested by the enemy, who had ample opportu-
nities to intercept them, the Spaniards fell back upon
Adra. Such was their desperate condition from
hunger that the gardens and orchards in the neigh-
borhood were stripped of everything edible, and the
chronicles relate that not even a leaf remained. The
capture of the insignificant fortress of Castil-de-
Ferro, whose garrison numbered less than a hundred,
was the only exploit which relieved the disastrous
monotony of the Duke of Sesa's campaign. The
Alpuj arras, although still occupied by the Moriscoes,
were practically untenable. Every hostile army which
had entered their defiles had marked with utter devas-
tation an area of many square leagues. The fields
were laid waste. The villages were burned. Infor-
mation of the hidden magazines of the inhabitants
was sold by their countrymen, and the stores destined
for the winter were carried away or destroyed. At
many points the peasantry had sought refuge in caves.
It was a favorite diversion of the Spaniards to stifle
these wretches with smoke, like so many wild animals
in their burrows. The survivors were hunted like
game through the mountains. On a single occasion,
Don John received a most acceptable gift of four
hundred heads and eleven hundred captives. It was
a remarkable circumstance when any considerable
body of insurgents were taken, for indiscriminate
massacre was the rule of every campaign. It was
considered a peculiarly pious and meritorious action
to ransom prisoners and present them to the Inquisi-
tion. The fate for which these unfortunate victims
were reserved made the most shocking enormities of
open warfare seem trivial in comparison.
The relations of Al-Habaqui with the Christians
were now generally known; his influence was con-
stantly solicited by his countrymen; and his power
Moorish Empire in Europe 295
became so great that even Ibn-Abu himself was com-
pelled to pay court to his minister, and countenance
proceedings of which he heartily disapproved to avoid
incurring the hostility of a favorite in whom was
practically vested the supreme authority. The latter
considered that the time had at last arrived for the
conclusion of his treasonable negotiations. With the
countenance of Ibn-Abu, and accompanied by seven-
teen Moriscoes of rank, he met the commissioners of
Don John at Andarax. Nothing came of the con-
ference, but the secret understanding between the
minister and the Spaniards was carried out as pre-
arranged. An adroit substitution of a document em-
bodying the concessions of the Spaniards for the one
containing the demands of the Moriscoes completed
the deception of the latter ; the arrogance of the Cas-
tilians caused a withdrawal of the envoys; and Al-
Habaqui, with a single companion, appeared before
Don John and, in the name of Ibn-Abu, gave up his
own scimetar and answered for the surrender of the
insurgents. This farce had but little effect, and was
speedily repudiated by the Morisco king. Then Al-
Habaqui received eight hundred gold ducats from the
Spanish general, with which to raise a company whose
especial mission it was to bring in Ibn-Abu, dead or
alive. The prominence of Al-Habaqui had turned his
head. His imprudent boasts betrayed him; he was
seized by the Turks, imprisoned, and strangled. The
treaty he had negotiated at the sacrifice of every prin-
ciple of honor and patriotism died with him. Ibn-
Abu used every expedient to keep the execution of
his treacherous minister from obtaining publicity.
Still resolved on resistance, he hoped by temporizing
with the enemy to procure better terms. His resources
were by no means exhausted. Five thousand well-
equipped veterans were under his command. He
entertained hopes of assistance from Africa that
296 History or the
ignis f atuus of every Moslem revolution, which prom-
ised so much and always ended in nothing. In the
mean time all was uncertainty in the Christian camp.
Although a formal capitulation by an authorized
functionary had been formally signed, no insurgents
surrendered. The whereabouts of Al-Habaqui were
unknown, and, while his death was unsuspected, his
absence could not be explained. Under a safe-conduct
an envoy was despatched to the Morisco king ; he soon
ascertained the truth and carried back a message of
defiance. Preparations were at once made for a re-
newal of hostilities ; the Spanish army, in three divi-
sions, advanced upon the Alpuj arras from as many
different directions, and every eifort was exerted to
close the war by a vigorously prosecuted campaign.
The situation of Ibn-Abu now became critical. The
country in which he was compelled to operate had been
stripped of everything that could sustain life. Much
of it that a few years previously exhibited a high de-
gree of cultivation had been transformed into a prime-
val solitude, where only the charred remnants of once
flourishing settlements attested the former presence
of man. His army was discouraged by the unrelent-
ing pursuit of the enemy. As usual, the faithfully
promised support from Africa proved a delusion.
The Moorish prince sent his brother, Mohammed-
al-Galipa, an experienced captain, to direct the insur-
rection in the Serrania de Ronda. Betrayed by a
Christian guide, who led him within the Spanish lines,
he was killed, and his escort of two hundred picked
soldiers destroyed. In Valencia, a conspiracy formed
in collusion with the Moriscoes of the Alpuj arras was
detected before it had time to mature, and its insti-
gators were punished with merciless cruelty. Encom-
passed by a numerous and powerful foe, Ibn-Abu rec-
ognized the impossibility of resistance and disbanded
his army. A few of his adherents took refuge among
Moorish Empire in Europe 297
their kindred in Barbary. The majority, however,
unable to escape and disdaining submission, which im-
phed a slavery worse than death or inquisitorial tor-
ture, remained with their sovereign. All were scat-
tered through the mountains and found shelter in the
caves of that region, which were known only to shep-
herds and to those whose haunts were in the wildest
and most rugged parts of the sierra. The march of
the Spaniards was accomplished amidst the silence
of desolation. In the distance at times could be seen
flying parties of scouts, but no resistance was encoun-
tered. Whatever had escaped the destructive progress
of former expeditions was now annihilated. Soldiers
wandering in quest of plunder occasionally stumbled
upon an inhabited cavern ; its inmates were driven out
by fire, and the infliction of torture soon disclosed the
location of others. In one of these the wife and
daughters of Ibn-Abu were suffocated, while he, with
two companions, escaped through a secret opening in
the mountain. The insatiable thirst of blood and
booty which urged on the invaders rendered protracted
concealment impossible. With each new discovery,
other places of refuge were successively revealed
through the unsparing and diabolical torments devised
by the Castilians. The women were spared and con-
demned to slavery. Male captives under twenty, as
a rule, shared a similar fate; all over that age were
put to death, some amidst prolonged and frightful
sufferings. Rank, innocence, the helplessness of age,
the touching infirmity of disease, important services
previously rendered to the royal cause, the prospect
of future loyalty which might result from clemency
judiciously bestowed, considerations of public wel-
fare, dependent upon the preservation of an indus-
trious people, afforded no exemption from the inex-
orable decree of destruction, enforced with every cir-
cumstance of savage malignity. The tracking of
298 History of the
fugitive Moriscoes was as exciting and far more
profitable than the chase of wild beasts. It was no
unusual occurrence for a party of these terrified
wretches to be pursued for a distance of fifty miles.
No obstacles were sufiScient to deter the Spaniards in
the tireless search for their prey; the more arduous
the hardships undergone, the greater the enjoyment
when the victims, vainly suppliant for mercy, were put
to the sword or burned at the stake. This time no
organized enemy was left in the Alpuj arras to disturb
in future the peace of the monarchy. More than ten
thousand insurgents were murdered or enslaved in the
space of a month. Wherever the soldiery could pene-
trate, every vestige of human life and artificial vege-
tation were alike swept away. The terraced slopes of
the mountains, reclaimed by infinite toil to profitable
culture, the once smiling and fertile valleys, were re-
stored to their native wildness. No voice remained in
that infinite solitude to dispute the dogmas of the
Church or to offend the scruples of the orthodox by
the celebration of the profane and detested rites of
Islam.
In the Serrania de Ronda the rebels still continued
active, but the ambition of rival chieftains aiming at
supreme power frustrated each other's plans and
eventually caused the discomfiture of all. The repu-
tation for valor which the mountaineers of Ronda had
attained was national; military operations in that
locality were not prosecuted with the same energy as
elsewhere, but the irreconcilable spirit of faction, ever
so fatal to the progress and stability of the Arab race,
again interposed as a potent factor of disorganization.
A sharp campaign directed by the Duke of Arcos
scattered the forces of the rebels, and the Serrania de
Ronda, while not actually conquered, no longer con-
tained a force capable of even temporary resistance.
The war now substantially ended, it was announced
Moorish Empire in Europe 299
by royal proclamation that every Morisco, without a
single exception, should be forever expelled from the
kingdom of Granada. The order was carried out to
the letter, under the supervision of Don John of Aus-
tria. The number of the exiles was from fifty to a
hundred thousand. Superior discipline and the per-
sonal attention of the prince prevented the horrors that
had attended the banishment of the residents of the
Albaycin. Some were sent to Seville and Murcia,
others to Estremadura, La Mancha, and Navarre.
The Castilian peasantry resented their appearance
among good Christians and resisted the soldiers, whose
presence alone prevented a massacre. As usual, the
lands which the Moriscoes possessed were seized for
the benefit of the crown ; their personal property was
sacrificed for much less than its value, and many hith-
erto accustomed to luxury, plundered of the little they
had saved from Spanish rapacity, reached their new
homes in a state of absolute destitution. The remote
fastnesses of the Alpuj arras still concealed a number
of fugitives, who cherished the fallacious hope that
amidst the rejoicings incident to victory they might
remain unnoticed and forgotten. Among them was
Ibn-Abu, whose followers, the infamous monfis, alike
inaccessible to honor or pity, were ready for every act
of treachery, and some of whom had already discussed
the expediency of obtaining pardon by the sacrifice of
the King. These homeless wanderers soon realized
that they were still the objects of Spanish animosity.
The establishment of regular garrisons and the dis-
banding of the rest of the army were coincident with
the formation of bands of scouts, whose duty it was
to scour the country and capture every Morisco that
could be found. In order to stimulate their activity, a
reward of twenty ducats was offered for each insur-
gent. The chase of Moriscoes now became a more
lucrative diversion than ever. The wildest portion of
300 History of the
the sierra was examined foot by foot. Large numbers
of fugitives were taken, and the prisons soon became
too small to contain the multitudes that crowded them
to suffocation. The utmost diligence of the authori-
ties was unequal to the task of providing quarters for
the new-comers, even by the wholesale execution of the
old. The most distinguished prisoners were hung.
Others were tortured. Many were handed over to the
Inquisition, which, while never unsupplied with vic-
tims, was glad of the opportunity to make a signal
example of such troublesome heretics. The majority
were condemned to the galleys, which, all things being
taken into account, was perhaps the most severe pun-
ishment that a prisoner could undergo. To be consid-
ered a mere machine, almost without identity and des-
titute of feeling, chained for days to the oar, exposed
alike to the burning sun and the tempest, subject to
hourly laceration by the scourge of a brutal overseer;
ill- fed and unprotected from the weapons of an
enemy, no fate to which unfortunate humanity is liable
would not seem preferable to the lot of the galley-
slave. Finally, the available facilities of Granada
proved totally inadequate for the disposition of captive
Moriscoes ; extraordinary powers were conferred upon
the commanders of the fortresses and outposts; the
scenes of carnage were transferred from the capital
to every accessible point of the Alpuj arras, and the
objects of national hatred and intolerance daily paid
by hundreds the extreme penalty of misfortune and
defeat.
The capture or death of Ibn-Abu now alone was
necessary for the full gratification of Christian ven-
geance. With trifling difficulty Gonzalo-al-Seniz,
who enjoyed his confidence and had shared his tent,
was persuaded to betray him. The rewards of treach-
ery were definitely stipulated in advance, the principal
inducements being a pension of a hundred thousand
Moorish Empire in Europe 301
maravedis and a promise of amnesty. An attempt to
take the unfortunate prince alive failed of success;
he was killed in the struggle ; of his faithful compan-
ions, some were cut to pieces, some implored the doubt-
ful clemency of the Christians, and others, after many
perilous adventures, succeeded in escaping to Africa.
The body of the Morisco king, strapped like a bale of
goods upon a beast of burden, was transported to
Granada and deposited at the door of the municipal
palace. Then preparations were made for a ceremony
unparallelled in the history of civilized nations, and
whose character shows to what a depth the base de-
scendants of Castilian chivalry had fallen. Procla-
mation was issued for the celebration of a travesty of
regal authority and the offer of a public insult to the
dead. At the appointed time a vast multitude of peo-
ple, attracted by the novelty of the spectacle from
every corner of the city and for a distance of many
leagues around, crowded the streets and squares of the
picturesque old Moorish capital. The line of march
led from the Plaza de la Bab-al-Rambla to the foot of
the Alhambra hill, a route which in the glorious days
of the emirs had been the scene of many a martial
triumph. The procession was headed by the corpse of
Ibn-Abu, held erect by a concealed wooden frame-
work, which was fastened upon the back of a mule.
To insure its preservation, the body had been opened,
the viscera extracted, and the cavity filled with salt ; it
was dressed in the scarlet and gold habiliments of roy-
alty ; upon its head was the turban of the khalif s ; the
face was uncovered, and the pallid, ghastly features
seemed, in their fixed and mournful expression, to
gaze reproachfully upon the jeering throng. By the
side of the mule walked the traitor Gonzalo-al-Seniz,
bearing the splendid arms of the king he had betrayed,
a cross-bow and a scimetar embossed and damascened
with gold. In the rear marched a company of Moris-
302 History of the
coes, exempted from the general proscription for par-
ticipation in this ceremony, laden with the personal
eiFects and the baggage of the Moslem prince. A
nmnerous escort of arquebusiers enclosed the cortege,
which was received with becoming pomp by the cap-
tain-general and all the military and civil function-
aries of the kingdom. As Gonzalo-al-Seniz delivered
to the Duke of Arcos the glittering weapons which he
carried, he remarked in the figurative language of the
Orient, " The shepherd could not bring the sheep
alive, but he has brought the fleece." In the presence
of the assembled dignitaries of the realm the head of
Ibn-Abu was cut oiF, and afterwards, placed in an
iron cage, was fixed upon the battlements of the gate
of Bab-al-Racha, which faced the Alpuj arras. The
trunk was abandoned to a mob of children, who
amused themselves by hacking and disfiguring it until,
wearied of this extraordinary pastime, they consumed
it in a bonfire.
Such was the unworthy fate of the last of the impe-
rial line of the Ommeyades. Eight hundred years
before, Abd-al-Rahman, hunted like a wild animal
through the Libyan Desert, had been summoned from
a life of obscurity and danger to found a great and
powerful empire. Although it rapidly reached its
meridian, that empire required many centuries for its
final overthrow. The proud dynasty of the Western
Khalifate ended as it had begun, in proscription, in
exile, in treachery, in violence. The causes which
hastened its maturity also contributed largely to its
decay. The aspirations of its sovereigns were, on the
main, noble and generous. Their services to humanity
were of incalculable value and of far-reaching effect.
The fire and sword of tyranny and persecution could
not efface the lasting impression made by the ideas
they promulgated, the science they developed, the lit-
erature they created. These survived the tortures of
Moorish Empire in Europe 303
the Inquisition, the anathemas of the Pope, the tur-
moil of revolution, the funeral pyres of Ximenes. It
is a remarkable fact that while the Hispano-Arabs
brought within the sphere of their influence and cul-
ture the most remote nations, their nearest neighbors
were incapable of appreciating their attainments or
profiting by their knowledge. The inveterate preju-
dice against every phase of Moorish life and manners
entertained by the Spanish Christians was fatal to
their intellectual development. They regarded the in-
truders as barbarians, as, indeed, the majority of their
descendants do even to this day. They were brought
in intimate contact with no other form of civilization,
and, rather than adopt what their ignorance and fanat-
icism prompted them to detest and despise, they chose
to rely on their own limited resources. In consequence,
their mental and social condition, so far from im-
proving, gradually retrograded. The Goths of the
age of Roderick were more polished, more intelligent,
actuated by better motives, capable of higher aspira-
tions, susceptible to nobler impulses than the Span-
iards governed by Charles and Philip. In their prog-
ress from the banks of the Vistula to the shores of the
Mediterranean, they had encountered many nations
long subject to the civilizing influence of Rome. Not
a few of them had visited the Eternal City itself.
Some had served in the armies of the decaying empire ;
all had been impressed by the grand and imposing
monuments of its magnificence and power. In the
court of the last of the Gothic kings were men not
unfamiliar with the masterpieces of classic literature.
Its publicists had framed a code of laws which is the
foundation of every modern system of jurisprudence.
In the mechanical arts Gothic skill and industry had
made no inconsiderable progress. While feudalism
had retarded the development of society, its privileges,
contrary to the practice of subsequent times, had not
304 History of the
as yet seriously encroached upon the dignity and pre-
rogatives of the throne. The institution of councils
under ecclesiastical influence was not entirely subser-
vient to the interests of superstition, and often exer-
cised a wholesome check upon the arbitrary designs of
a tyrannical sovereign.
With the Spaniards of the sixteenth century, every-
thing was subordinated to a single principle, the exal-
tation of the Church. Its servants were the chosen
confidants of the monarch ; its policy guided his move-
ments, controlled his actions, furnished his ideas, in-
flamed his prejudices. Whatever was worthy of the
name of learning the clergy monopolized and per-
verted. They diligently fostered the ignorance of the
masses, until in all the continent of Europe there is
not at the present time a more benighted class than the
peasantry of the Spanish Peninsula. The treasures
of the world were lavished with unparalleled prodigal-
ity upon religious institutions and edifices. A tithe of
the wealth squandered upon these vast foundations,
whose history is tainted with scandal, would have suf-
ficed, under intelligent direction, to have transformed
the entire country into a garden and to have rendered
Spain one of the richest of nations. Ecclesiasticism
promoted crime and idleness by making beggary re-
spectable, and by countenancing the indiscriminate be-
stowal of alms as a cardinal virtue. The expulsion of
the Jews and the Moriscoes were acts entirely con-
sistent with the general scheme of its polity. They
were indispensable for the realization of religious
unity, to which every consideration of national wel-
fare, public faith, and individual probity were unhesi-
tatingly sacrificed. The atrocities which accompanied
these violent and disastrous measures were regarded
as peculiarly meritorious and most acceptable to an
avenging God. Upon such insecure foundations was
the splendid but unsubstantial fabric of Spanish
Moorish Empire in Europe 305
greatness erected. A sad inheritance has descended
to the progeny of those stern warriors who founded
an empire on the wreck of civiHzation, the repudiation
of treaties, and the obHteration of entire races from
the face of the earth.
The war which had effected the conquest and en-
slavement of the Moriscoes lasted a little more than
three years. No period of the same duration in the
history of the Peninsula was fraught with more im-
portant consequences. The Spaniards lost by the cas-
ualties of battle, exposure, and disease sixty thousand
men. The losses of the Moors were much greater;
twenty thousand were killed with arms in their hands,
but no account has survived of those who were mas-
sacred in cold blood. The expense involved in the de-
struction of the most useful element of the population
appalled the corrupt and incompetent financiers of
the kingdom. Extraordinary and unwise fiscal meth-
ods, devised to remedy the evil, only rendered it more
aggravated and desperate. Repeated campaigns of
desolation had turned the whole country into a waste.
Not only was the material wealth annihilated, but the
means of recuperation were forever removed. Under
the iron hand of remorseless persecution, industry had
vanished. In vain the government offered alluring
inducements to immigrants and colonists, fertile
lands, moderate rents, nominal taxation. Few ac-
cepted these offers and still fewer remained. The
provinces of the South continued a prey to the bri-
gands of the mountains and the corsairs of Barbary.
Life and property were notoriously insecure. Cas-
tilian pride and indolence were unequal to the patient
drudgery which had made hill-side and valley blossom
with teeming vegetation ; and men whose chosen trade
for ages had been war were wholly destitute of the
agricultural experience and skill necessary to repro-
duce these marvellous effects. The royal demesnes,
V^OL. III. 20
306 History of the
in 1592, yielded annually a sum equal to fifteen thou-
sand dollars; during the closing years of Moslem rule,
when the kingdom had been exhausted by incessant
war and rebellion, the revenues from this source pro-
duced by territory of equal area and fertility had been
more than ten times as great. Plundered, tortured,
expatriated, the Moriscoes were still subjected to in-
numerable vexations ; the curse of their race was ever
upon them. But they were at last comparatively ex-
empt from the odious imputation of heresy. After
1595 the most rigid inquisitorial vigilance was unable
or unwilling to detect any heterodox opinions or
breaches of ecclesiastical discipline among these un-
promising proselytes. And yet it was notorious that
they were ignorant of the doctrines of the Church, and
that competent persons were not appointed to instruct
them. Some zealots, indeed, maintained that they
should not be permitted to communicate, and that the
exposure of the Host in their churches was a desecra-
tion ; others, on the other hand, refused absolution to
such as would not acknowledge apostasy. Their con-
fessions were often regarded as feigned, and the
priests who received them did not hesitate to violate
the obligations of their order by divulging privileged
confidences to the magistrate. The Morisco could not
change his residence without permission; he was not
allowed the possession of arms; the approach within
forty miles of the kingdom of Granada was punish-
able with death. Notwithstanding these severe regu-
lations, many succeeded in evading the vigilance of
the authorities. Some took refuge in Valencia, where
the feudal lords still protected their brethren; others
concealed themselves in the Alpuj arras; many es-
caped to Africa. In their new homes they were gen-
erally treated with far more indulgence than in the
old. Prelates and nobles who profited by their in-
dustry not infrequently interposed their influence to
Moorish Empire in Europe 307
prevent persecution, interested officials connived at
breaches of the law, and it was a common occurrence
for the alguazil appointed to prevent the observance
of the feast of Ramadhan to pass his time carousing
with those whom it was his office to restrain. The
condition of the Moriscoes was also rendered less in-
tolerable by the secret employment of both civil and
ecclesiastical dignitaries of high rank and extensive
influence, at a regular salary, to guard their rights
and frustrate the iniquitous designs of their enemies.
The once flourishing land of Granada was a desert,
but the demands of orthodox Christianity at last were
satisfied. The devout regarded with unconcealed com-
placency the fertile territory formerly rich in every
variety of agricultural products, and now abandoned
to sterility, but which was defiled no longer by the
contaminating presence of the heretic and the infidel.
But, while the Faith was vindicated by the expulsion
of these objects of pious detestation, the secret of
prosperity had departed with them. The imported
colonists were unable, under new and unfamiliar con-
ditions and heedless of the frugality and patience
which insure success, to render their undertakings
profitable; indeed, most of them could hardly exist.
Their taxes had, in violation of contract and on ac-
count of the pressing exigencies of the state, been
gradually increased; the demands of importunate
creditors and tyrannical officials made them desper-
ate; and these exactions, which exhausted the scanty
returns of an ill-conducted cultivation, kept the un-
fortunate immigrants in a state of hopeless penury.
They either abandoned their farms or were forcibly
ejected, and in 1597 the royal estates were sold because
it was found impossible to operate them at a profit.
While in Granada such discouraging conditions pre-
vailed, those portions of the kingdom which had un-
willingly received the banished Moriscoes experienced
308 History of the
the beneficial results of their labors. The hitherto
barren regions of La Mancha and Estremadura began
to exhibit signs of unexampled fertility. The new
settlers were peaceable, frugal, industrious. In Cas-
tile they were generally farmers; in Aragon, mer-
chants; in Valencia, manufacturers. Not a few at-
tained great distinction in the practice of medicine and
surgery ; and, like the Jews of former ages, they were
frequently employed by the court and the family of
the sovereign. The life of Philip III. when a child
was saved by the skill of a Moorish physician, a service
which was ill-requited by the deeds of his manhood.
The exiles practically contributed the funds which
supported the monarchy. The insatiable rapacity of
adventurers had soon exhausted the available wealth
of a magnificent colonial empire. Official corruption
constantly drained the ordinary sources of revenue.
In all financial difficulties taxation of the Moriscoes
afforded an unfailing and profitable means of replen-
ishing the treasury. Their burdens were first doubled,
then quadrupled. Every species of imposition was
practised upon them. Their debtors paid them in
spurious coin, struck for their benefit. False jewels
were pledged with them for loans. The chicanery of
the law was employed to defraud them with impunity,
while the most severe penalties were inflicted upon
them for trifling breaches of trust. They were sys-
tematically swindled by cheats and usurers. In all
possible ways they were made to feel the unmerited
degradation of their caste and the utter hopelessness
of relief. Yet under this weight of malevolence and
injustice they prospered and preserved at least the
appearance of equanimity. Nothing could, with
truth, be alleged against their morals. They were
nominally good Christians. They attended mass.
They conformed to the customs of their rulers, wore
their dress, participated in their festivals, spoke Cas-
Moorish Empire in Europe 309
tilian. Their regular and temperate lives and their
buoyant spirits under misfortune promoted extraor-
dinary longevity. It was by no means unusual to en-
counter individuals whose age had passed the limit of
a century. Early marriages and polygamous unions
caused the population to increase with amazing
rapidity. The census taken regularly by the Moris-
coes to ascertain the proportion of taxes to be levied
upon them and to insure its equitable distribution
demonstrated conclusively that this growth was in a
progressive ratio that was phenomenal in its character.
The enumeration made at Valencia in 1602 showed an
increase of ten thousand in three years. Modern in-
vestigation has established the fact that a population
existing under the most favorable economic conditions
will double itself every twenty-five years. The Moris-
coes were far exceeding that estimate, for their rate
of increase was triple. This wonderful augmentation
must have been coincident with the highest degree of
prosperity, otherwise subsistence could not have been
provided for the multitudes of children. This con-
dition was not peculiar to Valencia: it was the same
in Aragon, in Castile, in Estremadura, in Andalusia.
The Moors who had failed to conquer their enemies
by arms now threatened to overwhelm them by sheer
force of numbers. The Spaniards, not being suffi-
ciently civilized to take their census regularly or ac-
curately, were ignorant of the numerical strength of
their own population, as compared with that of their
Moorish subjects; but it was evident that there was a
tremendous preponderance in favor of the latter.
The officials became so alarmed that just before the
death of Philip II. he was requested to prohibit any
further enumeration of the Moriscoes, because it ac-
quainted them with their power and must eventually
prove prejudicial to the interests of the monarchy.
Besides their menacing increase, which no supervision,
310 History of the
however eiFective, could prevent, they possessed quali-
ties that made them highly obnoxious to their masters.
Their frugality and thrift, their shrewdness and en-
terprise, rendered competition with them impossible.
There was no profitable occupation in which they did
not excel. In agriculture they had no rivals. They
monopolized every industrial employment; all of the
most useful trades were under their control. They
undersold the Castilian peasantry in their own mar-
kets. Even the most opulent, instructed by previous
experience, sedulously avoided every exhibition of lux-
ury ; but the Moorish artisan had not lost the taste and
dexterity of his ancestors, and the splendid products
of the loom and the armory still commanded high
prices in the metropolitan cities of Europe. It was
known that the Moriscoes were wealthy, and popular
opinion, as is invariably the case, delighted in exag-
gerating the value of their possessions. While they
sold much, they consumed comparatively Httle and
purchased even less. Although the offence of heresy
could no longer be consistently imputed to them, spe-
cious considerations of public policy, as well as defer-
ence to ineradicable national prejudice, demanded
their suppression. Their prosperity, secured at the
expense of their neighbors, and a standing reproach to
the idleness and incapacity of the latter, was the meas-
ure of Spanish decay. In the existing state of the
public mind, and under the direction of the statesmen
who controlled the actions of the King, a pretext could
readily be found for the perpetration of any injustice.
The Moriscoes of Valencia, the most numerous,
wealthy, and influential body of their race, protected
by the nobles, had always shown less alacrity in the
observance of the duties of the Church than their
brethren, and had thus rendered themselves liable to
the suspicion of apostasy. It was declared that after
a generation of espionage, prayer, and religious in-
Moorish Empire in Europe 311
struction they were still secret Mussulmans. This
opinion, perhaps in some instances not without foun-
dation, amounted to absolute certainty in the narrow
mind of Don Juan de Ribera, Archbishop of Valen-
cia, a prelate of vindictive temper, arbitrary disposi-
tion, limited abilities, and violent prejudices. He
owed much of his reputation for piety to the fact that
he had denounced to the Inquisition more than four
thousand alleged Moorish apostates. Knowing his
feelings towards them, the Moriscoes generally turned
a deaf ear to his admonitions and threats, and thus fur-
ther incurred his displeasure. The energy of Ribera
was incessantly exerted for the ruin of these supposed
heretics, either by exile or by extermination. With
this end in view he addressed several memorials to
Philip III., who had now ascended the throne, in
which the objects of his wrath were accused of every
crime against the civil and the moral law, treason,
murder, kidnapping, blasphemy, sacrilege. In these
appeals the Moriscoes were called " the sponge that
absorbed the riches of Spain." He enforced his argu-
ments by the extraordinary statement that the destruc-
tion of the Armada was a divine judgment for the in-
dulgence exhibited towards these enemies of the Faith,
and that Philip II. was aware of it, for he himself had
informed him of that fact. The recent occurrence of
earthquakes, tempests, and comets was also sagely at-
tributed to the same cause. The Moriscoes were not
ignorant of the designs which the Archbishop was
prosecuting to their injury, and endeavored to obtain
the assistance of France and England, both of which
countries were then hostile to Spain. They offered
King Henry IV. the services of a hundred thousand
well-armed soldiers if he would invade the Peninsula.
The Duke of Sully says they even signalized their
willingness to embrace Protestantism in consideration
of support, it being a form of worship not tainted
312 History of the
with idolatry, like that of Rome. Negotiations were
privately opened with the courts of Paris and London,
and commissions were even appointed by the latter to
verify the claims of the ]Moriscoes ; but no conclusion
was arrived at, and the plot was eventually betrayed
by the very sovereigns whose honor was pledged to the
maintenance of secrecy. An embassy was also sent to
the Sultan of Turkey by the Moors, soliciting his aid
and tendering him their allegiance. 'No plan which
promised relief was neglected. The furious Ribera
again urged upon the King the dangers that the tol-
eration of such a numerous and perfidious people im-
plied; he alleged their prosperity and their superior
inteUigence as crimes against the state; and as abso-
lute extermination did not seem to be feasible, he sug-
gested expulsion as of greater inconvenience, but of
equal efficacy. Once more the nobles interposed in
behalf of their vassals, and while the King was hesi-
tating the Moriscoes endeavored to anticipate his de-
cision by the formation of an extensive conspiracy.
Again they were betrayed, this time by one of their
own number. Pubhc opinion, aroused by these oc-
currences, and further inflamed by ecclesiastical malice
and by the pernicious influence of the Duke of Lerma,
the all-powerful minister of PhiHp III., now impera-
tively demanded their banisliment. This nobleman,
of base antecedents and unprincipled character, and
whose dominating passion was avarice, was Viceroy
of Valencia. His brother was the Grand Inquisitor
Their influence easily overweighed the remonstrances
of the Pope, whose voice was raised on the side of
mercy.
On the fourth of August, 1609, the royal decree
which announced the fate of the Moriscoes of Valen-
cia was signed at Segovia. No precaution which pru-
dence could suggest was neglected to prevent disaster
consequent upon its enforcement. Great bodies of
Moorish Empire in Europe 313
troops were placed under arms. The frontiers of the
kingdom were patrolled by cavalry. Seventy-seven
ships of war, the largest in the navy, were assembled
on the coast. In every town the garrison was doubled.
Several thousand veterans disembarked from the fleet
and were distributed at those points where the Morisco
population was most numerous. Such preparations
left no alternative but submission, and the Valencians,
anticipating the final movement which would deliver
the unhappy Moors into their hands, began to rob and
persecute them without pity. Even after all had been
arranged for the removal, the nobles urged Philip to
revoke an order which must cause incalculable injury
to his kingdom. The most solemn and binding guar-
antees were offered for the public safety and for the
peaceable behavior of the Moriscoes. It was demon-
strated that the manufacturing and agricultural inter-
ests of the entire monarchy were involved ; that a pop-
ulation of a million souls, whose industry represented
of itself a source of wealth which could not be re-
placed, would be practically exterminated; that the
educational and rehgious foundations of the realm
alone received from JVIoorish tributaries an annual
sum exceeding a milhon doubloons of gold. It was
also shown that the vassals of the Valencian nobles
paid them each year four million ducats, nearly thirty-
two million dollars. The alleged conspiracies were
imputed to the malice of the monks, who invented
them in the cloister; the heresies to ignorance of the
clergy, too idle or too negligent to afford their par-
ishioners instruction. The evil results of the iniquitous
decree had already begun to manifest themselves.
The cultivation of the soil had almost ceased. The
markets were deserted. Commerce languished, and
the Moriscoes, to avoid the insults of the populace to
which they were now subjected, only appeared in the
streets when impelled to do so by absolute necessity.
314 History of the
The Archiepiscopal See of Valencia, which derived its
revenues almost entirely from Morisco taxation, was
threatened with bankruptcy, and Don Juan de Ribera,
realizing when too late the disastrous consequences of
the project he had so sedulously advocated, now in
vain endeavored to stem the tide of public bigotry and
official madness. While bewailing his unhappy con-
dition to his clerical subordinates, he was heard to
plaintively remark, " My brethren, hereafter we shall
be compelled to live upon herbs and to mend our own
shoes."
Philip refused to reconsider his determination, and
the nobility manifested their loyalty by the unflinching
support of a measure running directly counter to their
interests. On the twenty-second of September, 1609,
the edict of expulsion was proclaimed by heralds
throughout the kingdom of Valencia. It represented
that by a special act of royal clemency " the heretics,
apostates, traitors, criminals guilty of Use-majeste
human and divine," were punished with exile rather
than with death, to which the strict construction of the
laws condemned them. It permitted the removal of
such effects as could be carried, and as much of their
harvests as was necessary for subsistence during their
journey; all else was to be forfeited to their suzerains..
They were forbidden to sell their lands or houses.
Three days of preparation were granted; after that
they were declared the legitimate prey of every as-
sailant. Dire penalties were denounced against all
who should conceal them or in any way assist in the
evasion of the edict. Those who had intermarried with
Christians could remain, if they desired; and six per
cent, of the families were to be reserved by the lords,
that the horticultural and mechanical dexterity which
had enriched the country might not be absolutely ex-
tinguished. These subjects of interested clemency
Moorish Empire in Europe 315
refused to accept this invidious concession, however,
and hastened to join their countrymen beyond the sea.
The wretched Moriscoes received the tidings of their
expatriation with almost the despair with which they
would have listened to a sentence of death. Astonish-
ment, arising from the suddenness of the notice and
the inadequate time allotted them for preparation, was
mingled with their dismay. The traditions of cen-
turies, the souvenirs of national glory, the memory of
their ancestors, contributed to endear them to their
native land. There were centred the most cherished
associations of a numerous and cultivated race. All
around were the visible signs of thrift and opulence
and their results, won by laborious exertion from the
soil. The disfigured but still magnificent monuments
of fallen dynasties recalled the departed glory of
Arab genius and Moslem power. The loss of their
wealth, the sacrifice of their possessions, portended
the endurance of calamities for which they were ill-
prepared, and of whose dreadful character their most
gloomy apprehensions could convey no adequate con-
ception.
In every Moorish community appeared the signs of
unutterable misery and woe. The shrieks of frenzied
women pierced the air. Old men sobbed upon the
hearthstones where had been passed the happy days of
infancy and youth. Overcome with grief, life-long
friends met in the streets without notice or salutation.
Even little children, unable to comprehend, yet awed
by the prevailing sorrow, ceased their play to mingle
their tears with those of their parents.
As the disconsolate and sobbing multitude, urged
on by the ferocious soldiery taught by their religion
to regard these victims of national prejudice as the
enemies of Christ, left their homes behind forever,
their trials and sufferings increased with their prog-
ress. The government provided them with neither
316 History of the
food, shelter, nor transportation. The difficulties of
the march were aggravated by clouds of dust and by
the pitiless heat of summer. Many were born on the
highway. Great numbers fell from exhaustion.
Some, in desperation, committed suicide. Every
straggler was butchered by the armed rabble which,
equally ravenous for plunder or blood, constantly
hung on the flanks of the slowly moving column.
Many were assassinated by Old Christians, men of
Moorish ancestry, the conversion of whose forefathers
dated before the Conquest, and who told their beads
and muttered prayers after each murder, as if they
had committed an action acceptable to God. The
armed brigands who composed the escort vied with the
mob in their atrocities. The men were openly killed,
the women violated. Their property was appropriated
by force. Some died of hunger. Parents, in their
extremity, became so oblivious of the instincts of
nature as to barter their children for a morsel of bread.
When they embarked for Africa they fared even
worse than they had done on land. On the sea the op-
portunities for outrage were multiplied, the means of
escape and detection diminished. No pen can portray
the horrors visited upon the unhappy Moriscoes, help-
less in the midst of savage enemies who were insen-
sible to pity, hardened by cruelty, and dominated by
the furious lust of beauty and gold.
The decree was not received everywhere with the
same submission as at the city of Valencia. There the
exiles, overawed by the large military force, yielded
without disturbance. Half -crazed by misfortune,
they even feigned exultation, marched on board the
ships dressed in holiday costume and headed by bands
of music, and in token of delight gave themselves up
to the most extravagant exhibitions of joy. Some
kissed the shore, others plunged into the sea, others
again quaffed the briny water as if it were a delicious
Moorish Empire in Europe 317
beverage. Before embarking they sold much of their
property, and articles of great elegance and beauty
curiously wrought vessels of gold and enamel, silken
veils embroidered with silver, magnificent garments
were disposed of for a small fraction of their value.
During these transactions, and in settlement of their
passage to Africa, the Moriscoes succeeded in placing
in circulation an immense amount of counterfeit
money which they had obtained in Catalonia, thus lit-
erally paying the Spaniards in their own coin. The
portable wealth of which the kingdom was deprived
by their banishment cannot be estimated. It
amounted, however, to many millions of ducats.
Some of the exiles were known to possess a hundred
thousand pieces of gold, an enormous fortune in those
times. It was ascertained after their departure that
their lords, in defiance of law, had purchased many of
their estates, and had connived at the sale or conceal-
ment of a great amount of their personal property.
Those who succeeded in reaching the cities were re-
ceived with courteous hospitality, but the desert tribes
showed scant mercy to the multitudes that fell into
their hands.
Elsewhere in the kingdom the Moriscoes stubbornly
resisted the decree of expatriation. The Sierra de
Bernia and the VaTe of Alahuar were the scene of
the most serious disturbances, and at one time twenty
thousand insurgents were in the field. Armed for the
most part with clubs, their valor was ineffectual in the
presence of veteran troops. The women alone were
spared; the men were butchered; the brains of chil-
dren were beaten out against the walls. The garrison
of the castle of Pop, which for a few weeks defied the
Spanish army, alone obtained advantageous terms.
Of the one hundred and fifty thousand Moors exiled
from Valencia, at least two-thirds perished. A large
number had previously succumbed to persecution or
318 History of the
had escaped, and including these the total number of
victims of the inauguration of the insane policy of
Philip III. was at least two hundred thousand. The
continuance of that policy until its aim had been fully
accomplished had already been determined on by the
councillors of the King. The secrecy which concealed
their design did not impose upon those who were the
objects of it. They began by tens of thousands to
emigrate quietly to Africa. Then the decree, which
had been signed a month before, was published, with
an attempt to give the impression that it had been pro-
voked by a circumstance of which it was really the
cause, namely, the agitation of the Moriscoes. The
latter were peremptorily commanded to leave the king-
dom within eight days. They were forbidden to take
with them money, gold, jewels, bills of exchange, or
merchandise. They were not permitted to dispose of
their estates. In Catalonia their property was confis-
cated, " in satisfaction of debts which they might have
owed to Christians," and three days only were allowed
them in which to prepare for departure. Their little
children were to be left behind to the tender mercies of
their oppressors, in order that their salvation might
be assured. Those of the northern provinces were
prohibited from moving southward; those of Anda-
lusia were directed to emigrate by sea. Within the
allotted time all were in motion. The embarkation of
the exiles destined for Africa was effected without
difficulty. But their brethren of Castile and Aragon
were refused admission into France, by the direct
order of Henry IV., to whose agency was largely at-
tributable their deplorable condition. His opportune
death somewhat relaxed official severity, and a great
number entered Provence. Although they were
peaceable and inoffensive, the French were anxious to
be rid of their unwelcome guests. Free transportation
was furnished them by the city of Marseilles, and they
Moorish Empire in Europe 319
were distributed through Turkey, Italy, and Africa.
So many died during the passage by sea that their dead
bodies encumbered the beach, and the peasants refused
for a long time to eat fish, declaring that it had the
taste of human flesh. The progress of the unfortu-
nates driven northward was marked by daily scenes
of persecution and agony. The commissioners ap-
pointed to supervise the emigration connived at the
evasion of the decree for their own profit. They ex-
torted enormous sums for protection, which their duty
required them to aff'ord without compensation, and
which, even after these impositions, was insolently de-
nied. Those things which the ordinary dictates of
humanity delight to bestow were sold to the hapless
wanderers at fabulous prices. For the shade of the
trees on the highway the grasping and unprincipled
peasant exacted a rental; and the water dipped from
the streams in the trembling hands of the sufferers
commanded a higher price than that usually paid for
the wine of the country. The little which the commis-
sioners overlooked was seized by rapacious French
officials, and the condition of the Moriscoes was still
further aggravated by the absconding of those of their
number to whom the common purse had been in-
trusted.
In the merciless proscription thus imposed upon an
entire people, an insignificant number temporarily
escaped. In the latter were included young children
torn from their parents to be educated by the Church,
and such persons " of good life and religion" as the
clergy, through interested or generous motives, chose
to recommend to royal indulgence. In 1611 the ex-
emption enjoyed by these classes was removed;
searching inquiry was instituted throughout the king-
dom, and every individual of Moorish blood who could
be discovered was inexorably condemned to banish-
ment or slavery. By the persecution of the Moriscoes
320 History of the
and the losses by war, assassination, voluntary emigra-
tion, and enforced exile, Spain was deprived of the
services of more than a million of the most intelligent,
laborious, and skilful subjects in Christendom. Those
who were finally excluded were probably not more
than half of the entire Moorish population. No sta-
tistics are accessible in our day from which an estimate
can be formed of the vast number that perished by
famine, by torture, by massacre. Their trials were
not at an end even in Africa; they were pursued for
sectarian diiFerences, and some who were sincere
Christians returned to Spain, where they were at once
sentenced to the galleys. The skill and thrift of the
Moriscoes, qualities which should have made them de-
sirable, rendered them everywhere unpopular; they
monopolized the trade of the Barbary coast, even
driving out the Jews; in Algiers the populace rose
against them, all were expelled, and large numbers
were remorselessly butchered. Hatred of their op-
pressors induced many of hitherto peaceful occupa-
tions to embrace the trade of piracy, and the southern
coast of the Peninsula had reason to long remember
the exploits of the Morisco corsairs.
The ruthless barbarity, the blind and reckless folly
of this measure, was followed by an everlasting curse
of barrenness, ignorance, and penury. The sudden
removal of enormous amounts of portable wealth de-
ranged every kind of trade. The circulation of coun-
terfeit money impaired public confidence. In Valen-
cia four hundred and fifty villages were abandoned.
The absence of the most industrious and prosperous
class of its inhabitants was apparent in every commu-
nity of Castile. Catalonia lost three-quarters of its
population. The districts of Aragon rendered deso-
late by Moorish expulsion have never been repeopled.
Agricultural science and mechanical skill disappeared.
The hatred and disdain entertained by the Spaniards
Moorish Empire in Europe 321
for the conquered race had never permitted them to
profit by the experience and ingenuity of the latter.
Intercourse with a Moor brought moral and social con-
tamination. Still less could the admission of infe-
riority, which the adoption of his methods implied, be
tolerated by the haughty, the vainglorious, the impe-
cunious hidalgo.
The effects of the discouragement of all forms of
art and industry consequent upon war and persecution
had been felt long previous to the expulsion of the
Moriscoes in every part of the Peninsula. For many
years after the capture of Cordova by Ferdinand III.,
it was found necessary to bring provisions from the
North, not onlj^ for the support of the army, but to
rescue from famine the sparse and thriftless popula-
tion of a province which under the Ommeyade khahfs
maintained with ease the great capital, as well as
twelve thousand villages and hamlets.
The decline in the number of inhabitants under
Spanish rule indicates the utter stagnation of trade
and agriculture. In 1492 the population of Castile
was six and three-quarter million; in 1700 there were
in the entire kingdom of Spain but six million souls
such had been the significant retrogression in two hun-
dred years.
The combined revenues of the Spanish Crown at
the close of the fifteenth century amounted to a sum
equal to three hundred thousand dollars, about one-
thousandth of the annual receipts of the imperial
treasury at the death of Abd-al-Rahman III., seven
hundred years before.
Fifty years after the banishment of the Moors, the
combined population of the cities of Cordova, Seville,
Toledo, Granada, had decreased by more than four-
fifths ; it is now about one-tenth of its amount during
the Moslem domination. In 1788 there were fifteen
hundred and eleven deserted towns in the Peninsula.
Vol. hi. 31
322 History of the
Toledo, celebrated for its silken fabrics, in the latter
part of the fifteenth century had sixty thousand
looms ; in 1651 it had five thousand ; to-day it has none.
The same industry was pursued with great success at
Seville; in the seventeenth century the number of its
looms had decreased from sixteen thousand to sixteen.
All othep branches of manufactures declined in the
same proportion. Even a large part of the kingdom
of Valencia, the garden of Europe, was for years an
uninhabited wilderness. With the Moslem expulsion
the knowledge of many arts, once the source of great
profit, was hopelessly lost.
To the pious Spaniard all these sacrifices were as
nothing when compared with the triumph of the Faith.
The ports were unoccupied, the quays grass-grown,
but the armies of the Cross had conquered. The man-
ufactories had fallen into decay, the streets were silent,
the highways were deserted except by the timorous
traveller and the lurking robber, but not a Moslem
or a Jewish heretic was to be encountered in His Most
Catholic Majesty's dominions. At the close of the
seventeenth century, throughout the entire Peninsula,
once the centre of learning in Europe, the resort of
scholai^ of every land, the seat of the greatest educa-
tional institutions of the Middle Ages, not a single
academy existed where instruction could be obtained
in astronomy, natural philosophy, or any branch of
mathematics. A hundred years later no one could be
found who understood even the rudiments of chemis-
try. To-day, among the inhabitants of Spain, accord-
ing to the published tables of statistics, only one person
in every four can read. But what mattered the de-
struction of commerce, the decay of production, the
dearth of intelligence, if the land was purged of false
doctrines? Was it not a source of national congratu-
lation that ecclesiastical authority was once more para-
mount; that half of the able-bodied population, male
Moorish Empire in Europe 323
and female, were devoted to monastic life ; that mag-
nificent religious foundations, such as the world had
never before seen, arose on every side; that, though
the royal treasury was bankrupt, the annual revenues
of the Church amounted to nearly fifty-three million
dollars? Surely these manifold divine blessings were
not to be weighed with the transitory benefits derived
from the labors of a mass of perverse and unregen-
erate heretics !
The results, both immediate and remote, of this
crime against civihzation thus proved fatal to Spain.
Its principal sources of subsistence removed, the king-
dom was desolated by famine. It became necessary
to extend public aid to many noble families, once af-
fluent, but now impoverished by the suicidal course of
the crown. Popular sentiment, exasperated by dis-
tress, denounced in unsparing terms the authors of the
national calamity. The Archbishop of Valencia, un-
able to endure the daily reproaches to which he was
subjected, and overcome by the sufferings for which
he was responsible, died of remorse. Silence and
gloom occupied vast tracts formerly covered by ex-
uberant vegetation. In the place of the farmer and
the mechanic appeared the brigand and the outlaw.
Deprived of protection, the open country was aban-
doned ; the peasantry sought the security of fortified
places, and all occupations whose pursuit implied ex-
posure to the danger of violence were necessarily sus-
pended. The conditions controlling every rank of
society which were estabhshed in the Peninsula by the
blind and savage prejudices of the seventeenth cen-
tury are largely prevalent to-day. A dreadful retri-
bution has followed a tragedy whose example happily
no other nation has ventured to imitate; and which,
from the hour of its occurrence, has afflicted with
every misfortune to the last generation the people re-
sponsible for its hideous atrocities.
324) History of the
CHAPTER XXVII
GENERAL CONDITION OF EUROPE FROM THE VIII. TO
THE XVI. CENTURY
700-1500
Effects of Barbarian Supremacy on the Nations of Europe Rise
of the Papal Power Character of the Popes Their Vices
and Crimes The Interdict Corrupt Practices of Prelates
and Degradation of the Papacy Institution of the Monas-
tic Orders Their Great Influence Their Final Degeneracy
Wealth of the Religious Houses The Byzantine System
Its Characteristics Power of the Eunuchs Splendor of
Constantinople Destruction of Learning Debased Condi-
tion of the Greeks The People of Western Europe Tyr-
anny of Caste and its Effects Feudal Oppression Life of
the Noble His Amusements The Serf and his Degrada-
tion His Hopeless Existence Treatment of the Jews
Prevalence of Epidemics Religious Festivals General
Ignorance Scarcity and Value of Books Persecution of
Learning The Empire of the Church Its Extraordinary
Vitality.
In order that the reader may thoroughly understand
and properly appreciate the moral and intellectual
supremacy of the Spanish Arabs and their prodigious
advance in the domain of science and the arts, I have
thought it advisable, by way of contrast, to present to
him a short and superficial sketch of the religious, po-
litical, and domestic conditions which prevailed in the
society of contemporaneous Europe. The extent of
this vast and comprehensive subject one which has
exhausted the erudition of many great historians,
whose works of themselves would constitute a consid-
erable library must, therefore, excuse the incomplete
and cursory character of this chapter; while its im-
Moorish Empire in Europe 325
portance as a standard of comparison will account for
an apparent deviation from the general plan embraced
by these volumes.
The elegant luxury and refined civilization of the
Romans had disappeared amidst the universal anarchy
which followed the dissolution of their empire. The
boundaries of great states and kingdoms had been
obliterated. Provinces once famed for their fertility
were now the haunts of prowling beasts and truculent
barbarians. The despotic but generally salutary gov-
ernment of the Cassars had everywhere, save in the
immediate vicinity of Byzantium, been replaced by the
capricious and irregular jurisdiction of petty chief-
tains, whose violent passions were restrained only by
their weakness, and of marauding princes, ambitious
to destroy every vestige of that architectural magnifi-
cence and mental culture whose monuments they de-
spised, and whose example they had neither the desire
nor the capacity to emulate. Instead of a smiling
landscape, everywhere exhibiting the traces of agri-
cultural skill and laborious and patient industry, a
prospect of universal desolation met the eye of the
anxious and hurrying wayfarer. Moss-grown heaps
of rubbish alone marked the site of many a once flour-
ishing and opulent city. The towering aqueducts,
those engineering marvels of the ancient world,
whose majestic ruins still excite the admiration of all
mankind, were broken and fallen into decay. The
peerless temples and altars of the gods had been dese-
crated by the hands of sacrilegious Goth, Hun, and
Lombard. Bands of brigands, insensible to pity,
swarmed upon the highways. In the cities the equita-
ble decisions of the praetor had been supplanted by
the extortions of ecclesiastical fraud and barbarian in-
solence. The vices prevalent during the most aban-
doned period of Roman licentiousness had survived,
and had been aggravated by the unfeeling cruelty of
326 History of the
the conquerors. No scruples of humanity or delicacy-
suggested the concealment of the most revolting
orgies. The streets of the Eternal City exhibited
enormities whose very mention the rules of modern
propriety do not tolerate. Banquets where the brutal
propensities of the turbulent and uncouth guests were
indulged to the utmost constantly afforded provoca-
tion for bloodshed and murder. Knowledge of letters,
understanding and appreciation of the arts, had
already wholly vanished. The literary masterpieces
of classic genius remained unknown or forgotten in
the insignificant collections of scattered libraries, or
had been buried under the smoking ruins of those in-
stitutions of learning which once adorned the capitals
and the provincial cities of Greece and Italy.
By the accident of geographical position, by the
adoption of familiar political maxims, and by the in-
corporation into its ritual of many ceremonies long
endeared to the votaries of Paganism, the Church of
Rome had secured an influence over the minds of men
which under any other circumstances it could scarcely
have acquired. The revered name and dignity of
Supreme Pontiff imparted authority to its decrees and
gave prestige to its decisions on questions of doctrine.
The five Christian emperors, from Constantine to
Gratian, adopted without alteration the attributes and
wore the insignia of the sacred office established by
Numa and usurped by Augustus. The assumption of
imperial power is shown by the extent of Papal juris-
diction long sharply defined by the ancient limits of
the empire. The adoption of the Latin idiom enabled
the Church to communicate secretly with its servants
in the most distant countries; while at the same time
it invested the proceedings of its worship with a mys-
tery which awed the ignorant and fanatic believer.
The splendid ceremonial, the imposing temples, the
elaborate vestments, the costly furniture of the altar
Moorish Empire in Europe 327
enriched with gold and jewels, the incense, the solemn
chants, the consecration of the Host, all powerfully
impressed the superstitious children of the slaves of
ancient mythology, in whose minds still lingered traces
of those traditions which had been received by their
fathers with the implicit faith due to the oracles of the
gods.
In the course of centuries, the primitive simplicity
of the Gospel and the purity of life which distin-
guished the first Christians had been lost in the com-
plex theology, in the unseemly contests for precedence,
in the crimes and the licentiousness which distracted
the society of the Eternal City. From a simple priest,
whose tenure of office was dependent on the pleasure
of his associates, the Bishop of Rome had been exalted
into a mighty sovereign, responsible only to the powers
of Heaven. The palace of the Vatican exhibited all
the vices of the most corrupt of courts. The assump-
tion of infallibility, an inevitable result of the pre-
posterous claims of the Papacy, through the contra-
dictory interpretations of different individuals whose
interests were conflicting led to the most opposite con-
clusions, often to results fatal to the peace and honor
of the Church. The faith of the populace was weak-
ened. Infidelity in the priesthood became too com-
mon to excite remark. The universal depravity was
incredible and appalling. The general demoralization
resulting from the example of the clergy, whose athe-
ism and debauchery were proverbial, threatened the
existence of society, a catastrophe which the thorough
organization of the hierarchy alone prevented. Even in
the fifteenth century Machiavelli wrote, " The nearer
a nation is to Rome the more impious are the people."
When the German Schopp called the famous scholar,
Casaubon, an atheist, the latter retorted: " If I were
an atheist I should now be at Rome, where I have
often been invited." The effects of this su'perb eccle-
328 History of the
siastical organization were not long in manifesting
themselves. The legitimate resources of power were
aided by every device of fraud, of oppression, of
imposture, of forgery. A succession of able and un-
principled pontiffs fastened on Christendom a yoke
which the intelligence and the science of subsequent
generations have not even yet been able to entirely
remove. The temporal supremacy of the Csesars was
re-estabhshed over Europe; the dogmas of Catholi-
cism were preached in distant continents unknown to
the ancient world; and a tyranny far more terrible
in its consequences than that experienced under the
cruel rule of Nero and Domitian was imposed upon
the intellectual aspirations of mankind.
No branch of history affords such a significant illus-
tration of human craft and human weakness as the
story of the ambition, the intrigues, and the vices of
the Popes. In its consideration, the fact must never
be lost sight of that the Holy Father was, as a neces-
sary consequence of his creed, the earthly embodiment
of spiritual perfection, the vicegerent of Almighty
God. Either the admission of a single error of judg-
ment, or a controversy involving the most insignificant
tenet sustained by one pope and disputed by his suc-
cessor, was fatal to the claim of infallibility, which
was the foundation of the entire ecclesiastical system.
The omniscience conferred by the apostolic succes-
sion, which traced its origin to the Saviour Himself,
could never be mistaken. The example of the Su-
preme Pontiff, the relations he sustained to the great
officials of his court, his occupations, his diversions, his
tastes, his habits, his conversation, were of far greater
importance in the eyes of the meanest peasant of some
remote kingdom who acknowledged his mission than
were the most glorious achievements of any temporal
sovereign. The possibilities for the attainment to po-
sitions of such authority and influence as were offered
Moorish Empire in Europe 329
by the Roman Catholic hierarchy had been unknown
to Paganism. These opportunities enabled men of
base origin, but of extraordinary talents, to reach the
chair of St. Peter, men whose faults were overlooked
or palliated by the indulgent spirit of the age on
account of the successful prosecution of their schemes
and the veneration which attached to their calHng.
Thus, among the powers of the earth, highest in
rank, greatest in renown, supreme in influence, pre-
eminent in infamy, was the Papacy of Rome. The
maintenance of an uniform standard of orthodoxy
was little considered by the spiritual potentate whose
will was the law of Christendom. It is well known
to every student of Church history that Jewish doc-
trines predominated in the early days of Christianity
and controlled the policy of its priesthood. The
Pagan ideas and ceremonies inherited from the Roman
pontiffs it never laid aside. Every form of heterodox
belief was entertained at different periods by the in-
cumbents of the Holy See. St. Clement was an
Arian; Anastasius a Nestorian; Honorius a Mono-
thelite; John XXII. an unconcealed atheist. The
contradictory dogmas, the acrimonious disputes, the
frightful anathemas, that resulted from the adoption
of these heretical principles of doctrine were the pub-
lic reproach of the Christian world. As the power
of the Papacy increased, its possession became more
and more an object to ambitious and unscrupulous
adventurers. It was sought and obtained by arts
countenanced only by the vilest of demagogues. It
was sold by one Pope to another; and, like the im-
perial laurel appropriated by the Pretorian Guards,
it was put up at auction by cardinals and became the
property of the most wealthy purchaser. Some of the
Holy Fathers had not taken orders; others had not
even received the sacraments of baptism and com-
munion before being invested with the pontifical dig-
330 History of the
nity. In some instances the tiara and the mitre were
placed upon the brows of children. Neither John
XII. nor Benedict IX. had attained the age of thirteen
years when intrusted with the direction of the spir-
itual aif airs of Christendom. An infant of five years
was consecrated Archbishop of Rheims. Another who
was only ten was placed upon the episcopal throne
of Narbonne. Alonso of Aragon, the natural son
of Ferdinand the Catholic, was made Archbishop of
Saragossa at the age of six. The origin of the vicars
of Christ was sometimes of the most obscure and often
of the most disgraceful character. Stephen VII.,
John X., John XI., John XII., Boniface VII., Greg-
ory VII., were the sons of courtesans. In some in-
stances the infamy was further increased by the addi-
tional stigma attaching to the crime of incest. The
famous courtesan Marozia, who for the greater part
of her life disposed of the Papacy at her will, is
credited with the installation of eight Popes, all her
lovers or her children, one of whom was at once her
son and grandson. The empire she acquired by her
talents and her beauty lasted almost a quarter of a
century. To that epoch is ascribed an occurrence that
many writers have designated as fabulous, but which
is established by evidence far more convincing than
many events that have successfully withstood the most
formidable assaults of hostile criticism. It was long
asserted by chroniclers of the orthodox faith, and uni-
versally credited, that in the capital of Christianity,
hallowed by the glorious deaths of countless martyrs,
linked with the proud associations of the rise and
progress of the spiritual power of the Papacy, and
ennobled by the most signal victories of the Church,
a monstrous prodigy had occurred. It was said that
Pope John VIII., whose sex had hitherto been un-
suspected save by those favored with her intimacy,
while returning from the celebration of a solemn fes-
Moorish Empire in Europe 831
tival, at the head of a procession of cardinals and
bishops and surrounded with the ghttering emblems
of pontifical power and majesty, had been seized with
the throes of parturition in one of the most public
thoroughfares of Rome.
The original acceptance of and belief in this por-
tentous catastrophe, and its subsequent denial, form
one of the most curious episodes in the annals of the
Church. For five centuries it was implicitly received
as historic truth. The life of Pope Joan long occupied
a prominent place in the biographies of the successors
of St. Peter, dedicated to eminent prelates, often to
the Pontiffs themselves. The occurrence whose lo-
cality was marked by the statue of a woman wearing
the Papal insignia and holding a child in her arms
was minutely described in the works of learned and
respectable historians. This memorial was thrown into
the Tiber by the order of Sixtus V. Her bust, de-
stroyed by Charles VIII. during the French invasion
of Italy, was long an ornament of one of the churches
of Sienna. Until the time of Leo X. certain cere-
monies, which cannot be described, were publicly insti-
tuted at the election of every Pope to determine his
sex. To these even the licentious Borgia was forced
to conform. John Huss, when arraigned before the
Council of Constance, amidst an unbroken silence, re-
proached the ecclesiastical dignitaries assembled to
condemn him, and whom the slightest heretical asser-
tion roused to tumultuous fury, with the imposture
which had so signally demonstrated the weakness of
the vaunted inspiration of the Papacy. More than
five hundred writers, whose interests were identical
with those of the Vatican among them chroniclers,
polemic divines, authorities on the history of the
Church and its discipline, all enthusiastic members of
the Roman Catholic communion have confirmed the
existence of a female Pope.
332 History of the
But, whether true or false, the disgrace consequent
upon this gigantic scandal was insignificant when
compared with the moral eiFect of the long series of
crimes which disfigure the annals of Papal Rome.
The shameless venality of the Princes of the Church
had from the most remote times disgraced the pro-
ceedings by which was elevated to the throne of the
apostles the immaculate Vicar of God. So corrupt
was the ecclesiastical society of the capital that no
Pontiff who endeavored to live a moral life was secure
for a single hour. Celestine was poisoned at the in-
stance of the cardinals eighteen days after receiving
the tiara. Adrian V. was poisoned in the conclave
itself before his election. The partisans of antago-
nistic claimants of the Papacy pursued each other with
a vindictiveness scarcely equalled by the most intense
bitterness of political faction. Each aspirant to the
pontifical dignity denounced his opponent as an anti-
pope, and exhausted the rich vocabulary of clerical
invective in consigning him to the vengeance of
Heaven. The defeated candidate was subjected to
every variety of torture; to the deprivation of his
nose, his eyes, his tongue ; to the suffering of confine-
ment in noisome dungeons ; to the pangs of prolonged
starvation. The temporal enemies of the Holy Father
fared even worse than his rivals for spiritual suprem-
acy. No deed was considered too flagitious for the
removal of a dangerous and obstinate adversary. In-
nocent IV. employed the trusted physician and friend
of the Emperor Frederick II. to compass his destruc-
tion. The Emperor Henry VII. was poisoned by
order of Clement V. The assassination of the Medici
under Sixtus IV. was planned by that Pope, and car-
ried out before the altar, the signal for attack being the
elevation of the Host by the celebrant, an archbishop.
Half of the population of Rome was sacrificed to
gratify the malignity of Formosus, whose quarrels
Moorish Empire in Europe 333
long survived him and desolated the fairest provinces
of Italy. Three years after the establishment of the
Inquisition in Spain by Gregory IX. its victims
already numbered tens of thousands.
In the variety and shrewdness of schemes for pro-
curing money the statesmen of no government have
ever equalled the astute financiers of the Apostolic
See. In addition to the infinite number of vexatious
and cruel expedients suggested by the possession and
exercise of irresponsible power, the Popes employed
means which violated every precept of morality, but
whose successful issue demonstrated the practical
wisdom which had inspired them. Simony was in-
variably practised, and not infrequently defended,
even by those whose manifest duty it was to suppress
it. The wealthiest candidate for the Papacy, whose
physical infirmities indicated a speedy demise, had the
best prospect for the realization of his ambition. The
price of a cardinal's hat varied from one thousand to
ten thousand florins; the pallium of an archbishop
was rated still higher in the ecclesiastical market, for
the dignity of which it was the symbol usually brought
thirty thousand ducats in gold. To meet this tax
demanded at the death of every metropolitan, the
new incumbent was sometimes reduced to pledge the
furniture of the altar as security to Jewish usurers,
who alone were able to raise such exorbitant amounts ;
and it was a source of complaint among the devout
that Hebrew children had been seen to amuse them-
selves with the utensils consecrated to pious uses, and
that in the unhallowed orgies of their fathers sacred
vessels were habitually profaned which had originally
been destined to receive the body and blood of Christ.
When the exigencies of the Pontiff required it, the
sacrifice of a few cardinals afforded a safe and easy
means of replenishing the Papal treasury by the sale
of the vacant dignities and by the reversion of the
334 History of the
estates of the victims to the domain of the Holy See.
It is a well-known fact that Alexander VI. died from
drinking poisoned wine intended for certain princes
of the Church whom he had invited to share his treach-
erous hospitality. Great wealth was obtained by the
sale of absolutions granted by one Pope from the
anathemas of his predecessor. This device suggested
the traffic in indulgences, promising immunity from all
punishment for crime. The avarice of John XXII.
prompted him to draw up and promulgate a schedule
of fines, so that by the payment of trifling sums the
culprit was completely absolved from the moral and
secular consequences of the most atrocious offences in
the criminal calendar.
In their relations with foreign courts the Popes
brought to bear every source of corruption and vio-
lence for the accomplishment of their ends. They
availed themselves of the prestige attaching to their
sacred office for the encouragement of insurrection
and parricide. They openly sold the investitures of
distant kingdoms. They armed the servant against
his master, the vassal against his lord, the subject
against his king. They prohibited the education of
children as inimical to the interests of the clergy,
who alone were declared worthy to enjoy the bene-
fits of learning. When an obnoxious enemy was
to be removed, they did not shrink from selecting
instruments at whose employment honor and piety
alike revolt, the envenomed poniard, the sacramen-
tal elements mingled with deadly poisons and yet
blessed by the ceremonies of the officiating prelate,
whose instructions impressed the unsuspicious victim
with the belief that he knelt in the very presence of
God. According to Montaigne, the Holy Father was
accustomed to use during the pontifical mass a con-
trivance which counteracted the effects of a conse-
crated draught which might otherwise be a messenger
Moorish Empire in Europe 335
of death. From having been the vassals of the Em-
peror, the tributaries of the Saracen Emirs, and the
tools of the Kings of France, the Popes in time arro-
gated to themselves imperial prerogatives; and his
title to the crown was not considered as vested in a
sovereign until it had been placed upon his brow by
an ecclesiastic duly commissioned by the Successor of
St. Peter. Through the insidious influence of a super-
stition, fostered by the ignorance of the time, the
authority of powerful monarchs was disputed in their
capitals. Degrading penances were imposed upon
and performed by them without remonstrance. The
humiliation of the prince in the eyes of his people in-
creased, in a corresponding degree, the importance of
the spiritual ruler who could inflict such punishments.
By excommunication and interdict the one cutting
off an individual from the fellowship of believers, the
other aimed at an entire community or kingdom and
involving the innocent with the guilty the vengeance
of the Church was visited upon all, of whatever rank,
who had violated her canons or interfered with her
projects of ambition. It is difficult in our age to ap-
preciate the grave effects of ecclesiastical fulminations
which the progress of intelligence and the development
of civilization have long since deprived of their terrors.
Of excommunication, anything besides a human being
might be the subject, from a comet to rats, worms, and
every kind of vermin. The interdict was equivalent
to a dreadful curse inflicted by the vicegerent of God.
With awe-inspiring ceremonies, usually performed at*
midnight to increase their impressive effect, the de-
cree of the Holy See was solemnly proclaimed. In
gloomy silence, occasionally broken by sobs and half-
stifled lamentations, the terror-stricken multitude
listened to a sentence which, in their eyes, exceeded,
through the direful consequences it entailed, the
severest penalty that any earthly tribunal could in-
336 History of the
flict. The churches were closed. The bells were
silent. The tapers burning on the altars were extin-
guished. The relics were concealed. Before every
house of worship where the Host was enshrined the
consecrated wafer was publicly committed to the
flames. The crucifixes of chapel and cathedral alike,
enveloped in folds of black cloth, were hidden from
the reverential gaze of those on whose heads had fallen
the censure of the Almighty. All religious ceremonies
were suspended save the aspersion, which secured for
the Church the hope of another devotee, the solemni-
zation of marriage, and the final rites which dismissed
the passing soul on the threshold of eternity. The
endearments of conjugal affection, the last blessing
of the parent, the diversions of youth, the familiar
greetings of friendship and esteem, were all pro-
hibited. Surrounded by black-garbed priests bearing
torches, an officiating cardinal, robed in violet, the
mourning of his order, read the fatal edict which cut
off absolutely the only medium of communication be-
tween the sinner and his God. From that moment the
people were deprived of those welcome ministrations
which had been their pleasure and consolation from
infancy; which had directed their footsteps; which
had confirmed their wavering resolution in many an
emergency ; which had relieved their suiFerings ; which
had enhanced their happiness and furnished almost
their sole amusements. No opportunity w^as neglected
to impress the offending children of Rome with the
'awful consequences of the malediction which the per-
versity of their rulers had inflicted upon them. Sub-
jects were absolved from their allegiance. The chan-
nels of commerce were closed. Trade of every kind
was suspended. Worshippers, whose piety urged
them, in spite of ecclesiastical menace, to frequent the
portals of the church, were rudely driven back. The
use of meat was forbidden, as in Lent; the familiar
Moorish Empire in Europe 337
objects connected with the service of rehgion disap-
peared; the bells, deprived of their clappers, were
taken down from the steeples; the sacred effigies of
the saints were laid upon the ground and sedulously
concealed from the profane gaze of an accursed peo-
ple; the rich trappings of the shrines, the utensils of
the mass, the vestments of the priests, were collected
and carried away. The festivals which stimulated the
devotion and amused the leisure of the gay and care-
less multitude were discontinued ; the procession, which
impressed all classes with its solemnity and magnifi-
cence, no longer moved with barbaric pomp through
the crowded streets lined with long rows of kneeling
worshippers; the voice of prayer was unheard; mar-
riages were celebrated in churchyards; the bodies of
the dead, denied a resting-place in consecrated ground
and deprived even of the ordinary rites of sepulture,
were cast unceremoniously beyond the walls of cities,
to be devoured by unclean beasts and to poison the air
with noxious odors.
When the ban was removed, the purification of
every edifice, altar, and vessel, the reconsecration of
every relic and image, rites which demanded heavy
contributions, evinced the foresight and thrift of the
priesthood.
Such were the frightful methods by which the Pa-
pacy, in an age of ignorance, punished a nation for
the offences of a sovereign who had thwarted its
schemes, defied its power, or incurred its enmity. In
the estimation of the credulous and in those days all
were credulous the interdict was not only a general
curse enforced by every circumstance which could
appeal to the prejudices of the devout; it was the
sudden intercepting of the means of salvation, only
attainable through the agency of the servants of the
Church. Mediaeval writers have left us affecting
accounts of the universal wretchedness which the use
Vol. III. 22
338 History of the
of this instrument of ecclesiastical tyrann}?^ produced.
It rarely failed of success, for no monarch, however
bold or arbitrary, could long withstand its power ; and
the mere threat of its exercise was often sufficient to
strike terror into a whole people and to peremptorily
check the well-conceived designs of ambitious royalty.
The interdict only fell into disuse after the founda-
tion of the Inquisition, the most effective and formid-
able weapon ever devised by the merciless spirit of
Papal despotism.
With the financial exhaustion induced by profuse
expenditure in every species of luxury and vice, new
and ingenious expedients were invented for the re-
lief of the pressing necessities of the Vatican. The
institution and frequent recurrence of the Jubilee,
with its concourse of millions of fanatics, each bear-
ing his offering to the insatiable genius of Rome ; the
Crusades, which acquired for the Papacy incalculable
wealth by the conveyance of lands for a nominal con-
sideration and the generous contributions of pilgrims ;
the Constitutions of Leo, which declared the real prop-
erty of ecclesiastical foundations to be inalienable ; the
Inquisition, whose origin was more political than
moral, and by whose rules one-half of the property of
the condemned was forfeited to the sovereign and one-
half to the Church, are prominent examples of the
financial ability of the Popes.
The personal characters of the infallible and in-
spired guides of the Christian world cannot be deline-
ated in the fulness of their impious depravity. The
moral supremacy assumed by them as the representa-
tives of celestial power was presumed to excuse the
open indulgence of vices which even the most licentious
temporal potentates sedulously veiled from the eyes
of mankind. For more than two centuries the Papal
court presented an almost uninterrupted exhibition of
profligacy, which scandalized devout believers, whose
Moorish Empire in Europe 339
imagination had invested the Holy Father with the
attributes of divinity, and excited the horror of the
few eminent and consistent Christian prelates who
remained pure amidst the general contamination.
Some priests celebrated mass in a state of intoxica-
tion. Others paraded the streets with a train of bac-
chantes singing profane and licentious songs. They
presented their boon companions with the sacred ves-
sels of the altar. Archbishops appointed women of
infamous antecedents to the superintendence of con-
vents. The Vatican swarmed with catamites and cour-
tesans. Colonies of nuns, members of the seraglios of
the cardinals and the Pope, occupied houses adjoining
the sanctuary of St. Peter's. The satellites of the
Papacy obtained the most lucrative employments by
means of unnatural blandishments and ministrations
of unspeakable vileness. The most debased ideas
were entertained of the ecclesiastical functions de-
volving upon the head of the Christian communion.
Ministers of religion were consecrated in stables. Ca-
thedrals were made the theatre of mummeries and
obscene dances. Virgins were torn from the precincts
of the sanctuary and dragged to the Papal harem. In
the time of John XII. no woman was safe from in-
dignity and outrage in the very temple of God. Boni-
face IX. sold a cardinal's hat to a profligate adven-
turer named Bathalzar Cossa, who afterwards seized
the tiara by force and passed from the deck of a pirate
galley to the Apostolic Throne. The latter, under the
name of John XXIII., in a few years attained a repu-
tation remarkable even in the annals of Papal degra-
dation. He was deposed by the Council of Constance
after conviction of every offence of which a depraved
imagination could conceive. The infallibility of his
mission was thus impugned both by his irregular ap-
pointment and by the intervention of his spiritual sub-
ordinates who effected his deposition. It was an axiom
340 History of the
of the canon law, inevitably resulting from the original
spurious grant of pontifical authority, that no guilt
or heresy of the Pope could divest him of his spiritual
powers or of the sanctity which enveloped his person
as the Vicar of God. A dire necessity alone could
impel a council to violate this fundamental principle
upon which depended the prestige of the Papacy.
The impiety of the Holy Fathers was not less promi-
nent than their defiance of the rules of morality. Boni-
face VIII. openly blasphemed the name of Christ.
John XXII. ridiculed the sacraments. At the ban-
quets of John XII., Venus and Bacchus were in turn
toasted by noisy revellers of both sexes, the favorite
associates of that Pontiff.
The admissions of Pius II., in his correspondence
preserved in the Vatican, indicate without concealment
the practice of the grossest libertinage. From the
orgies of Benedict XII. dates the famous proverb,
" Bibere papaliter," " To drink like a Pope." Sixtus
IV., who inaugurated the custom of licensing the
brothels of Rome, derived annually from this horrible
traffic the enormous sum of thirty thousand ducats.
Innocent X. sold to the starving peasantry, at an ad-
vance of a hundred per cent., the grain he had pur-
chased at the price he himself had fixed. Sixtus IV.
gravely decreed that the illegitimate children of the
Popes should, by reason of their birth alone, be placed
on an equality with the descendants of the princely
houses of Italy. The scandals of the court of Avig-
non under Clement VI. and his successors surpassed
even those which had for ages made the Eternal City
a reproach to civilization and Christianity. Of the
latter, Benedict XII. has been conspicuously held up
to the execration of posterity as the violator of the
sister of Petrarch, whose connivance he attempted to
purchase with a cardinal's hat and a purse of a thou-
sand florins of gold. The bull of Alexander VI.,
Moorish Empire in Europe 341
which countenanced the slaughter of fifteen milHon
inoffensive natives of the New World, is a fitting cli-
max to this revolting chronicle of crime and infamy.
Well might the indignant Cardinal Baronius exclaim,
that " the Popes were monsters who installed them-
selves on the throne of Christendom by simony and
murder." Few indeed there were of the Holy Fathers
who tolerated even the suspicion of profane learning
in their jurisdiction. Most of them were the impla-
cable enemies of every kind of knowledge. Gregory
I. burnea all the copies of Livy that the most rigorous
search could disclose. Gregory VIII., scandalized by
the " superstitious tales" contained in the work of the
great Roman historian, completed, as far as human
energy and malignity could effect, the destructive task
of his predecessor. In consequence, out of a hundred
and forty-two books known to have existed during the
reign of these two Pontiffs, but thirty-five have sur-
vived. Sylvester II. is said by Petrarch to have been
" Negromante, e di dottrina eccellente," qualifications
which seem rather incongruous with the duties and the
traditions of the Papacy. Nor was the famous Ger-
bert the only Pope devoted to uncanonical and pro-
hibited investigations of the false science of the age.
John XIX. was skilled in hydromancy; John XX.
was an expert in the casting of horoscopes and in
divination; Benedict IX. consulted the famihar
geniuses of the forests and the mountains ; Gregory
VII. possessed a manual of enchantment, and shook
clouds of sparks from his sleeves when he pronounced
the Pontifical blessing ; Alexander VI. had the repu-
tation throughout Italy of "an abominable sorcerer."
The spirit of infidelity and blasphemy which pre-
vailed in the highest ranks of the priesthood also in-
fected the occupants of the throne. The lives of some
of the most devout sovereigns presented incredible ex-
amples of cruelty, hypocrisy, and deceit. Ecclesiasti-
342 History of the
cal example and the facility of absolution had appar-
ently destroyed all reverence for the precepts of the
Gospel, all apprehension of Divine wrath. The con-
tempt often entertained by royalty for the decrees of
the Almighty is disclosed by the impious speech of
Alfonso X., the Most Catholic King, " If God had
consulted me when He created the world, I would
have given Him some good advice."
The spurious donation of Constantine, by which the
first Christian sovereign was alleged to have ^onveyed
to Pope Sylvester I. the title to the Western Empire,
and with it the inlierited authority of the Caesars, was
supplemented in the eighth century by the Forged
Decretals, a series of epistles declared to have been
promulgated by the first Bishops of Rome, whose
names and order of apostolic succession are themselves
either apocryphal or based entirely on uncertain tra-
dition. The inconsistencies, contradictions, and ab-
surdities of the Decretals, which afford abundant
internal evidence of the ignorance of those who com-
posed them, and their entire want of concord on im-
portant points of doctrine, have demonstrated beyond
question their fraudulent origin. But in an age of
superstition their authority was amply sufficient to ac-
complish the object for which they were invented,
the autocracy of the Popes. The general deficiency of
critical knowledge, assisted by the reverence enter-
tained by the masses for the decisions of the Successor
of St. Peter, caused these glaring forgeries to be ac-
cepted with the same faith which was accorded to the
precepts of the Gospel, They conferred the most ex-
tensive and dangerous prerogatives on the Papacy.
They subjected the claims of every temporal sover-
eign to the extravagant pretensions of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy. The right of regal investiture
was by their maxims declared to be inherent in mem-
bers of the sacerdotal order, and the title of a monarch
Moorish Empire in Europe 343
alleged to be imperfect until he had been crowned by
a servant of the Church. By their incorporation into
the civil procedure of Europe, for centuries domi-
nated by the canon law, they established on a perma-
nent basis the ideas and the principles of Papal su-
premacy. No measure of statecraft has ever advanced
the interests of the Holy See to such an extent as the
publication of the Decretals, nor has any genuine series
of laws exercised over society a more potent influence
than that imposed by these fraudulent epistles upon
subsequent legislation.
The vast ecclesiastical system, whose ramifications
extended to the most insignificant hamlets of every
country in Europe and whose jurisdiction was para-
mount in the domains of the most powerful monarchs,
carried with it the abuses and vices of the central and
irresponsible authority. The spiritual courts of pro-
vincial metropolitans and bishops presented on a di-
minished scale the greed and sensuality of the Vati-
can. The same organized simony regulated the pres-
entation and promotion of clerk and prelate. The
same iniquitous expedients were adopted for the aug-
mentation of ecclesiastical revenues. Priests and
bishops lived in avowed and unblushing concubinage.
The seraglio of the Abbot of San Pelayo de Anteal-
taria contained seventy concubines. Henry III.,
Bishop of Liege, acknowledged the paternity of sixty-
five illegitimate children. In Spain, the metropoli-
tans, as well as their subordinates, maintained harems
guarded by eunuchs. In Germany, sacerdotal digni-
taries of the highest rank endeavored to overturn the
empire by the aid of idolaters, and enlisted bands
of robbers who plundered cities and extorted enormous
ransoms from wealthy merchants and defenceless
travellers. In France, the clergy of Verdun regularly
furnished Jewish traders with Christian children who
had been emasculated for the slave-markets of Cor-
344 History of the
dova and Seville. In Italy, the sale of young and
beautiful maidens to the Moors of Sicily and Mauri-
tania, which had invoked the indignant protest of
Charlemagne, was for many years one of the most
lucrative perquisites of the priesthood.
The laxity of morals prevalent in the hierarchy was
fatal to the preservation of ecclesiastical discipline.
Priests and nuns, divesting themselves of their sacred
character, which was supposed to present an edifying
example to the laity, contended with each other for
the infamous superiority of promiscuous lewdness.
The contributions of charity, the oblations of the
devout, were squandered in drunken orgies and mid-
night banquets. In certain Swiss cantons a new priest
was compelled, on his arrival, to choose a concubine as
a theoretical safeguard of the honor of his female
parishioners. These connections were authorized by
the laws of some countries, among them the fueros of
Castile, which permitted the sons of a celibate to in-
herit half his property. The sale of licenses to enter-
tain what were known as " sub-introduced women"
was for centuries a profitable source of revenue to the
bishops of England, and no priest was exempt from
this tax whether he wished to avail himself of its privi-
leges or not. The dignity of the sacred profession in
France had been degraded by the sacrilege of the Car-
lovingians, who appointed their favorite officers to the
richest benefices ; and the antecedents and manners of
these rude veterans were, as may be supposed, but
ill-adapted to the solemn ceremonies of the altar and
the confessional. Following this worthy example,
churchmen of the highest rank conferred the best
livings at their disposal on panders, lackeys, and
barbers. The coarse and unfeeling nature of the Ger-
man ecclesiastics did not hesitate to prompt the viola-
tion of every sentiment of honor in the gratification
of its brutal instincts. The holding of pluralities in
Moorish Empire in Europe 345
England had become an evil of national importance.
Many foreign prelates had never even visited the sees
whose revenues they enjoyed. The possession of from
twenty to thirty benefices was not uncommon, and
some fortunate individuals are mentioned who held
from three to four hundred. The deplorable condi-
tion of the priesthood was largely due to the enforce-
ment of celibacy on the one hand, and the sale of dis-
pensations to violate it on the other.
The poems, the satires, and the tales which have
come down to us from the Middle Ages reveal the
profligate manners of the clergy, as well as the gen-
eral contempt in which they were held by those whose
consciences were nominally in their keeping. In these
amusing literary productions the priest, the monk, and
the cardinal are almost invariably objects of ridicule.
Their peculiar garb, their uncouth manners, their
lubricity, their gluttony, their avarice, are made the
butt of profane and vulgar witticisms. They are
entrapped in ludicrous and compromising situations.
They are made the victims of severe practical jokes.
The language put into their mouths is a compound
of obscenity and blasphemy. A society which could
countenance such scandalous revelations must have
had scanty respect for the clerical profession and its
ministers. Assemblages of eminent episcopal digni-
taries fare little better than individuals at the hands of
the irreverent narrator. Nor can we wonder that such
is the case when we recall the conditions and the acces-
sories associated in the public mind with the Councils
of the Church. At the departure of the Papal court
from Lyons, in the thirteenth century, Cardinal Hugo,
a distinguished prelate, in the presence of an immense
concourse, made the increased depravity of that city,
for which its reverend visitors were confessedly re-
sponsible, the subject of a pleasing jest. The Holy
Fathers of the famous Council of Constance con-
346 History of the
voked to reform the priesthood, punish heresy, and
estabhsh a more exalted standard of moral discipline
for the edification of the ungodly, beguiled the
moments snatched from the labors of pious delibera-
tions and religious controversy in the society of
crowds of buffoons and dancers and of seven hun-
dred courtesans. The institution of the monastic
orders not only contributed greatly to the power of
the Papacy but exercised, as well, a direct and gen-
erally a most pernicious influence on society. An
immense body of fanatics, blindly devoted to the See
of Rome, was placed at the absolute disposal of the
Pope, invaluable allies in the bitter contests between
the Altar and the Throne. The mutual jealousies
and enmities of the secular and the regular clergy
made both the more dependent on the favor of the
Supreme Pontiff. Every individual in a religious
house was sworn to inviolable secrecy concerning all
that took place within its walls, a regulation which
became in subsequent times a convenient precaution
for the concealment of orgies that shunned the light
of day. The assumption of the vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience imparted to the monk and
the begging friar a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of
the credulous multitude. They mortified the flesh and
suppressed carnal provocations by frequent bleeding
and long abstinence from food. They disclaimed the
aristocratic tastes which were a reproach to the luxu-
rious members of the secular priesthood. They re-
nounced all the allurements, even all the comforts, of
life. Their physical necessities were supplied by alms.
Their fervid oratory, not confined by the pillared
vaults of churches, but which, in the open air, appealed
to the imagination and the prejudices of the ignorant,
their voluntary renunciation of the pleasures of the
world, the ostentatious self-sacrifice of their lives,
made them universal favorites with the -people. Men
Moorish Empire in Europe 347
of all classes showered gifts upon them. Women
eagerly sought their services as confessors. Their
visits to the isolated villages of the simple peasantry-
were hailed as harbingers of good fortune. Their
abodes offered gratuitous rest and refreshment to the
belated traveller. Their benediction attended the birth
and the christening of the infants of the poorest cot-
tage. Their prayers brought consolation and relief to
the bedside of the earnest Christian and the repentant
sinner alike. At every fireside their temporary and
accidental presence was regarded as a blessing.
But a change soon came over the monastic orders.
The temptations of wealth, luxury, and personal en-
joyment proved too strong to be resisted. The robe
of coarse cloth was metamorphosed into a mantle of
the finest fabric, trirmned with costly furs. The prior
no longer travelled alone and on foot, but rode an
ambling palfrey, followed by a train of obsequious
attendants. The hermitage developed into a stately
palace, whose appointments and surroundings equalled
and not infrequently eclipsed in splendor the seats of
princes. The monk became a great landed proprietor.
By purchase, by gift, by inheritance, by forfeiture, he
acquired in every countrj'- large and profitable estates.
Half of the lands of France were at one time in his
possession. The German nobility complained that
monasteries had absorbed the bulk of the real property
of the empire. The visitation of Henry VIII., which
led to the suppression of the religious houses of Eng-
land, revealed the fact that the regular clergy had for
centuries enjoyed the fruits of the most productive
and valuable portion of the public domain. The pecu-
liar character of its tenure made ecclesiastical proprie-
torship the more oppressive. Its title was in mort-
main, and its estates inalienable. It could always
acquire, but never relinquish, territorial rights. The
transfers of land, which constitute so important an
348 History of the
incentive to commercial activity in every community,
were not merely discountenanced, but were absolutely
prohibited, by its selfish and unjust regulations.
Monastic life, while nominally ascetic, presented in
the more opulent communities a picture of sybaritic
indulgence. In the cloister the refining influence of
literature had, even with the gratification of sensual
appetites, modified in the monk the degrading pro-
pensities and ferocious temper which actuated his asso-
ciate, the feudal baron. The dishes were more varied
and delicate; the choicest wines took the place of the
coarse product of the brewery; and the conversation,
while fully as irreverent and licentious as that which
entertained the guests of the noble, was deprived of
much of its repulsiveness by an outward observance
of decency. When overcome with too much hospi-
tality, the genial votary of Bacchus, instead of being
left under the table, exposed to the ridicule of his
companions or the swords of brawlers, was quietly con-
veyed to his cell by his more sober brethren. The
customs of the age imperatively demanded that the
head of a religious house should possess all the attri-
butes of aristocratic birth and gentle breeding. In
the eyes of the Celt especially, symmetry of form and
dignity of carriage were indispensable characteristics
of the ruler of a monastic community. Both abbot
and abbess were selected for corporeal rather than for
moral or intellectual qualifications, for handsome
features, commanding presence, and elegant manners.
Popular opinion insensibly associated mental supe-
riority and pious inclinations with physical perfection ;
and personal deformity was supposed, especially by
the ignorant multitude, to indicate a disposition to
crime. This belief, no doubt unconsciously derived
from the impressions left by the Pagan deities of
antiquity, in whose statues, models of beauty, were
embodied the unrivalled conceptions of the ancient
Moorish Empire in Europe 849
sculptor, demonstrates the persistent survival of time-
honored tradition and religious prejudice in the human
mind.
With the unlimited opportunities for their grati-
fication, uncanonical practices were at first secretly
indulged in and afterwards openly tolerated. The
refectory, once noted for frugality and pious exhor-
tation, was now the scene of gluttonous feasts and
licentious jesting. Foreign delicacies and wines of
exquisite flavor appeared daily on the table. Monks
and nuns maintained unholy relations under the same
roof. Many priors had acknowledged concubines, and
he who restricted himself to a single mistress was
regarded as a paragon of ecclesiastical virtue. In
contravention of every rule of their order, monks
assumed disguises and wandered over the country in
search of amorous adventures. Through their agency
obnoxious relatives were kidnapped and forced into
perpetual confinement, or, if sufficient pecuniary in-
ducements were offered, made to disappear forever
from the knowledge of man. In England they fre-
quently figured in disgraceful brawls with other dissi-
pated patrons of lupanars and taverns. The monas-
teries of Spain, France, and Italy presented an even
more disgraceful picture of drunkenness, licentious-
ness, and disorder.
The reputation for dissolute practices sustained by
the convent was in no respect inferior to that of the
monastery. The nuns notoriously affected all the airs
and graces of the most accomplished coquetry. They
arrayed themselves in rich garments covered with
beautiful embroidery, the work of their own skilful
hands. Their chemises of violet silk, their scarlet
shoes, their veils of silver tissue, were the delight of
their admirers and the abomination of the pious. They
wore chains and bracelets of gold and rings set with
precious gems. They painted their faces. King Ed-
350 History of the
gar publicly reproved the nuns of his kingdom for
their attire of purple and their jewels. The inmates
of Fontevrault wore the horned head-dress aifected
by the fashionable ladies of the time. The spouses of
Christ adopted every art to attract the attention of
the sinful passer-by. In the orgies which defiled even
the houses dedicated to divine worship their shameless-
ness was proverbial. They bathed in perfect nudity
with monks and deacons. They sang bacchanalian
songs. Their conversation was spiced with blasphe-
mous ribaldry. The universal prevalence of the evil
is proved by the frequency with which it is denounced
by the Councils of the Church. The Council of Co-
logne, held in 1307, was especially severe in its
reprobation of the custom by which nuns abandoned
for a time the conventual life for a career of debauch-
ery and then resumed their former relations with the
Church, without repentance, and, what was even worse,
without remonstrance from their superiors.
For indulgence in these pleasures prohibited by the
laws of God and man, the revenues of the religious
houses, although in many instances enormous, were
entirely inadequate. The extravagant demands of the
Holy See, which collected its tribute at frequent and
irregular intervals, further reduced the financial re-
sources of the monastic treasury. The ingenuity of
the abbots was not at a loss, however, to devise means
to replenish their exhausted coffers. Noble forests,
many of them contemporaneous with the reign of the
Druidical priesthood, were cut down and sold. Chal-
ices, patens, ciboria, and crucifixes were placed in
pawn with Jewish goldsmiths and merchants. Jewels
were extracted from votive offerings and altar orna-
ments and disposed of at a fraction of their real value.
These thefts of sacred articles were so serious that
inventories of the furniture and utensils of cathedrals
were often taken by the orders of primates and sover-
Moorish Empire in Europe 351
eigns, rather with a view to discover the losses than to
put a stop to a practice which under the existing sys-
tem was incurable. Absolutions, some forged, but
many genuine, bearing the Papal seal and ready to
be filled up with the name of the purchaser and the
description of the offence of which he was guilty or
which he was about to commit, were at the disposal of
every criminal. The official visitors of the English
abbeys discovered in the cells of recluses who were
popularly supposed to be laying up treasures in
heaven implements of the counterfeiter and quantities
of spurious coin. With the ministrations to the dying
the duty of the sufferer to the Church was unceasingly
inculcated by the shrewd confessor, until it came to
be considered an act of impiety, ranked with sacrilege
and suicide, to refuse to bequeath ^ large share of one's
wealth to the servants of God.
The number, riches, and influence of these ecclesias-
tical establishments were enormous. At the end of the
thirteenth century, there were six hundred monasteries
and convents in England, two thousand three hundred
and thirty-seven in France, and fifteen hundred in the
remaining countries of Europe. Many of these sup-
ported communities of more than a thousand monks;
that of the great Abbey of Bangor the largest in
Great Britain numbered three thousand. Towns,
villages, and immense tracts of arable soil, pasture,
and forest were included in their possessions. Multi-
tudes of tenants and vassals tilled these lands, the
lion's share of whose produce found its way into the
storehouses and granaries of the prosperous Fathers.
The rehgious duties of the latter did not hinder them
from profiting by the advantages of domestic and
foreign trade. They bought and sold almost every de-
scription of merchandise. The usurious rates of in-
terest which they obtained from necessitous borrowers
extorted the admiration of the shrewd and experienced
352 History of the
Hebrew broker. They managed tanneries, dealt ex-
tensively in cloth and leather, and imported many
luxuries from the Orient. The wool market of Eng-
land was absolutely controlled by them. The popular
clamor aroused by this monopoly, which dispossessed
and ruined tenants by turning tillable land into past-
ure and depriving large numbers of industrious people
of the means of livelihood, contributed, in no small
degree, to the suppression of the English monasteries.
An inexhaustible mine of wealth was made available
by traffic in relics and the entertainment and fleecing
of pilgrims. The methods of the Holy See in the
sale of sacred objects of more than doubtful authen-
ticity were improved upon by the cunning and au-
dacity of monkish charlatans. Immense quantities of
bones were imported from Italy and disposed of to
the devout at fabulous prices. Most of these sacred
treasures were taken from the catacombs, where was
deposited a practically unlimited supply of Pagan and
barbarian skeletons, whose original owners never
dreamed of the adoration they were destined one day
to receive on the banks of the Thames, the Seine, the
Rhine, and the Danube. When a church was to be
constructed, no difficulty was ever experienced in pro-
curing the relics of the saint to which it was dedicated,
and the mouldering remains of some priest of Jupiter
or Venus were probably not infrequently laid, with
every token of reverence, under the altar of a magnifi-
cent cathedral, whose idolatrous ceremonies would
have presented many striking points of resemblance
with heathen rites to the frequenters of the ancient
temples. Other sacred mementos of equal virtue
often presented a singular mixture of absurdity and
blasphemy. The reproductions of the crown of thorns
and the nails of the Crucifixion were infinite in num-
ber. The list included the coals that roasted St. Law-
rence, the cloth used at the Lord's Supper, a finger
Moorish Empire in Europe 353
of the Holy Ghost, and some of the milk of the
Mother of God. The tail of Balaam's ass was for a
century one of the most precious treasures of St. John
Lateran at Rome. When the zeal of the pious
flagged, the genius of the monks resorted to extraor-
dinary means to stimulate this unprofitable apathy.
The sympathies and fanaticism of the superstitious
were appealed to by processional images which could
weep and bleed. Letters were exhibited purporting to
have been penned by the divine hands of the Almighty
and the Saviour. The composition and style of these
productions, it may be remarked, indicate an extraor-
dinary degree of illiteracy in the exalted personages
to whom their execution was profanely attributed.
Many relics were supposed to possess marvellous
healing virtues, an opinion diligently propagated by
those whose interest it was to have it generally enter-
tained. Pilgrims crowded in enormous numbers to
these shrines, whose reputation promised speedy and
certain relief from every physical infirmity. As few
came empty handed, the contents of a single reliquary
were often a more important source of revenue than
all the royal demesnes of a kingdom. In the Middle
Ages the Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury was
by far the richest in Christendom. It had for three
hundred years received the tribute of pilgrims from
every land. Kings had placed crowns and priceless
jewels upon its altar. The great tomb of the saint
was entirely covered with plates of gold, but the pre-
cious metal was hardly visible on account of the profu-
sion of gems with which it was incrusted. The value of
the gold and silver obtained by its confiscation under
Henry VIII. was nearly one million pounds sterling,
and this estimate did not include the precious stones,
of which no appraisement was made. Much of this
wealth had been accumulated by the thrifty monks
through the sale of water alleged to contain a portion
Vol. III. 23
354) History of the
of the blood of St. Thomas shed at the time of his
martyrdom, whose supply, by the miraculous power
of multiplication enjoyed by certain relics, was never
exhausted, and which, aided by implicit faith and re-
ligious enthusiasm, may really have been instrumental
in temporarily relieving diseases induced by disordered
functions of the nervous system.
The power of the rulers of these populous commu-
nities was very extensive. In most instances the abbot
enjoyed not a few of the highest privileges of the
nobility. In addition to his spiritual functions, he ex-
ercised the duties of a civil and criminal magistrate,
and in extreme cases could inflict the penalty of death.
He was expected to act as sponsor to children of royal
lineage. While bound to observe the rules of his order,
his interpretation of those rules was final and his de-
cision absolute. In England, if entitled to wear the
mitre, he sat in the Upper House of Parliament by
the side of the bishops. Usually he was a veritable
epicurean, more fond of field sports than of his
breviary, a jovial companion, a connoisseur of wines,
an adorer of women. His table, his attire, and his
habits exhibited all the fastidiousness of a sybarite.
Numerous dishes, prepared by skilful cooks, tempted
his pampered tastes. The wines of his cellar were
the choicest and most expensive in the market. His
garments were sometimes of party-colored and em-
broidered silk, sometimes of scarlet cloth lined with
white satin. His boots, of the softest leather, fitted
his burly limbs without a wrinkle. Jewels sparkled
upon his snowy fingers. The retainers of his house-
hold were clad in gaudy liveries. He maintained
jesters and buffoons. To the noble amusement of
hawking he was so devoted, and his falcons were so
excellent, that for these reasons he often incurred the
envy of his aristocratic companions and the severe
censure of his more rigid ecclesiastical superiors.
Moorish Empire in Europe 355
Troops of strolling players always found a welcome
and munificent largess for their exhibitions in the
great hall of the abbey. In addition to the nuns, of
whom he was the especial patron, high-born ladies were
delighted to receive his amorous compliments and to
partake of his dangerous but splendid hospitality.
The inmates of the religious houses entertained far
closer relations with the great body of the population
than did the secular clergy. The original simplicity
of their lives, the apparent fervor of their devotion,
acquired for them a peculiar sanctity which their sub-
sequent irregularities could never entirely abrogate.
Unlike the secular priesthood, whose traditions were
of an aristocratic tendency, their necessities and their
ministrations brought them in intimate contact with the
lower orders of the people, who repaid their services
with fulsome idolatry. Of the two divisions of the
regular clergy, the friars, who only differed from the
monks in that they subsisted on alms, enjoyed the
greater consideration. Their blessing was earnestly
solicited by the traveller on the highway. Ladies wore
their rope girdles in Lent, partly by way of penance,
partly as amulets of sovereign virtue against the
machinations of evil spirits. The spurious relics which
they hawked about were supposed to be endowed with
more miraculous qualities than those retailed by the
bishop in the cathedral. Their eloquence carried with
its pathetic appeals and homely illustrations a convic-
tion denied to the labored efforts of the most accom-
plished and popular preacher.
It was not within the power of human nature to
long withstand the allurements which such opportuni-
ties for luxurious indulgence afforded. Within less
than half a century from their foundation, the mendi-
cant friars of St. Francis could boast of wealth equal
to that of any of the monastic orders. Their common
appellation Cordelier, derived from their hempen
356 History of the
girdle, became a synonym of lubricity and drunken-
ness. Both monks and friars enticed wives from their
husbands, and not infrequently reduced the latter to
beggary. They administered narcotics and aphrodisi-
acs to nuns, and pointed to their contortions and in-
coherent ravings as the effects of divine inspiration.
It was an ordinary occurrence for young girls to don
male attire and take up their abode in a monastery;
and a memorial of the time of Henry VII. of Eng-
land is extant in which the royal protection is solicited
by the farmers and gentry of Carnarvonshire against
the dissolute practices of the regular clergy. The
profanity of the monks during the celebration of the
mass, and their offensive language in the confessional,
sometimes resulted in temporary suspension from
those sacerdotal functions. Gaming was a common
amusement in which even abbesses had been known to
indulge. Whenever an abbot died the treasury was
plundered, and its contents distributed among the
brethren fortunate enough to be present.
These excesses were encouraged by the insignificant
penances imposed for their commission. Some escaped
with a reprimand, especially when the prior was known
to be equally guilty. Among the English clergy, mor-
tal sin could be condoned for the trifling sum of six
shillings and eight pence. Bearing a crucifix through
the aisles of the church and a fine of three shillings
and four pence entitled a delinquent to absolution for
incest. Fornication was expiated by an offering of
candles and the repetition of a few Paters and Aves.
As in the case of the laity, a regular schedule existed,
accurately defining the punishments to be inflicted for
every degree of ecclesiastical misconduct.
The ordinary criminal courts of judicature, through
the operation of privileges extorted from stupid and
fanatical sovereigns by the astuteness of designing
churchmen and the prejudices of a superstitious age,
Moorish Empire in Eueope 857
had no authority over a clerk until he had been con-
demned by a religious tribunal. The course of prose-
cution, in which the sympathies of the judges were
enhsted on the side of the culprit, through the bond
of a common profession, and often by reason of
participation in similar oiFences, was always slow and
sometimes interminable. By these delays, and the
purposely complicated process of the spiritual courts,
the civil statutes were practically nullified. The mu-
tual antagonism of the lay and clerical professions
indirectly encouraged the most revolting crimes. As
the learning of Europe was monopolized by the
clergy, every one who was able to read was deemed
a " clerk," and could demand the interference and
protection of the ecclesiastical authorities in case of
arrest. The tonsure was also regarded as prima-facie
evidence of being in orders, and of equal efficacy in
obtaining immunity, as many of the priesthood were
ignorant of letters. By taking advantage of these
privileges, so dangerous to the welfare of society, des-
perate malefactors continually escaped the conse-
quences of their deeds ; and the criminal, whose scanty
learning or shaven crown suggested a connection with
the all-powerful hierarchy, was demanded in vain by
the official avengers of the outraged laws. The benefit
of clergy was carried to such extremes in England
that Parliament found it necessary on one occasion to
proceed by bill of attainder against the Bishop of
Rochester's cook, who, wearing the tonsure and as-
sisted by the influence of his master, had defied the
criminal magistracy and tribunals of the realm. The
rendition of a trifling service, the payment of a sum of
money proportioned to the means of the applicant,
and which was often the proceeds of the crime for
which absolution was requested, relieved the highway-
man and the murderer from all apprehension of the
penalties of secular justice.
358 History of the
Thus had the monastic orders fatally degenerated
from the simplicity and purity of their original insti-
tution. In common with the other branches of the
ecclesiastical profession, they had become infected
with every vice and steeped in every sin. They were
especially noted for their propensity to the most dis-
graceful offences in the calendar of human infirmities,
to drunkenness, fornication, rape, and incest. Men
who habitually defied the canons of morality by indul-
gence in such practices must necessarily have enter-
tained but little respect for a system which, so far
from restraining, was known to secretly encourage
them. As a consequence, hypocrisy prevailed every-
where among the ministers of the Church, from the
Holy Father, surrounded by the beauties of his
seraglio, to the mendicant friar, who repaid the ser-
vices of the obsequious peasant by the plunder of his
goods and the corruption of his family. The morals
of the ecclesiastic were, as a rule, far worse than those
of the layman. In Southern France it was a custom,
which precedent had almost invested with the force of
law, for a priest, after the celebration of his first mass,
to invite his clerical friends to a carousal at the nearest
tavern. Bishops read the service in bed. The lower
clergy divided the solemn office of the Eucharist into
several parts, and, demanding a fee for each, quad-
rupled their emoluments. A French Council, in 1317,
menaced with excommunication any magistrate who
should, at sound of tinimpet, expose priests in public,
with their weapons about their necks, an ordinary
penalty for fighting and riotous conduct. The policy
of the Church considered the most flagrant injustice,
the most atrocious crime, as venial in comparison with
neglect of the outward obedience of her rules and the
observance of the formalities of her ritual, such as
rare attendance at mass, blaspheming of relics, with-
holding of tithes, eating meat in Lent, labor on holi-
Moorish Empire in Europe 359
days. In the prosecution of the Templars, the articles
of accusation did not regard the charge of inconti-
nence as important in comparison with those of athe-
ism and idolatry, although it was notorious that more
than thirteen thousand concubines were maintained at
the expense of the priories of that Order in Europe.
The violation of the vow of chastity was so common
that only the most outrageous indecency could excite
comment, and the spiritual authorities, whom the
Church had appointed to exercise a censorship over
public morals, hesitated to perform their duties lest
their own delinquencies might thereby be exposed. It
was considered not only meritorious, but convenient,
to have a clergyman for a lover, on account of the
facility of concealment and the certainty of immediate
absolution. The presence of the mistresses of bishops,
priests, and canons insulted the wives of honest nobles
and burghers at coronations and tournaments. The
vicinity of abbeys and convents swarmed with the
natural children of ecclesiastics. These members of
priestly households were liberally provided for from
revenues ostensibly collected for pious uses and the
propagation of religious truth. So degraded had
some of the monks become that they utilized even the
House of God for the basest purposes. Guyot de
Provins, a writer of the thirteenth century and him-
self the member of a monastic fraternity, relates that
he had seen Cistercians turn church-yards into pigsties
and tether asses in chapels. In addition to immoderate
indulgence in the strongest of wines, the successors
of Pachomius and Antony held eating contests, in
which the palm was awarded to the brother possess-
ing the greatest abdominal capacity. Among these
were the Glutton Masses of England, celebrated five
times a year in honor of the Virgin, when the parish
church was made the scene of the voracious exploits
of the priest and the clerks, who contended for this
360 History of the
enviable distinction with an ardor that often termi-
nated in riot. Every effort to reform these depraved
communities proved futile. The abbot who attempted
to correct the vices of his flock was harassed until he
was glad to relinquish his unpromising task or abandon
his charge. If he boldly attempted to enforce his
authority, he stood an excellent chance of being poi-
soned. The famous Abelard narrowly escaped this
fate, and the pronounced and vindictive hostility mani-
fested by the inmates of his abbey finally compelled
him to insure his safety by flight. Even the deter-
mined character of Cardinal Ximenes was forced to
succumb to the obstinacy of his Franciscan brethren,
whose extortions and irregular lives had excited his
horror and disgust. For seven years, William, Bishop
of Paderborn, employed in vain the authority vested
in his high oflice to free the monasteries of his diocese
from the scandal produced by the vices of their occu-
pants.
Much of the corruption of the regular clergy was
to be attributed to the impostors and malefactors who
found shelter and safety in their ranks. The assump-
tion of the tonsure alone was sufficient to insure
immunity to the most notorious outlaw. The slave,
impatient under the lash of a cruel master or appre-
hensive of the consequences of inexcusable faults,
acquired security and freedom in the shadow of the
towers of the abbey. The identity of the criminal
and the fugitive, the schemes of the hypocrite and the
knave, were effectually disguised by the cowl of the
friar. The humane and beneficent privilege of sanc-
tuary was abused by the reception and shelter of every
class of dangerous and disreputable offenders against
the public peace. Association with persons of this
abandoned character could not fail to be demoralizing,
even to those of the fraternity who observed their
vows, and must have still further corrupted the idle
Moorish Empire in Europe 361
and the dissolute who had already embraced the
alluring and luxurious routine of conventual life.
The incapacity, arrogance, and debauchery of the
clergy at length grew intolerable, even to a bigoted
and priest-ridden people. The translation of the Bible
by Wyclif, the teachings of John Huss and Jerome
of Prague, paved the way for the exercise of private
judgment and the privilege of independent thought.
All over Europe a reaction took place. It was least
felt in Italy, where the masses had for ages been
familiar with the impostures and crimes of the Pa-
pacy. It was most marked in England, where the
grievances imposed on the laity by their religious in-
structors had become insufferable, and the wealth of
the kingdom had been absorbed by the creatures of
Rome. The heresies of France for a time threatened
the existence of the hierarchy, and were only sup-
pressed by a crusade and the diabolical energy of the
Inquisition. Reverence for every form of belief had
been shaken by the universal prevalence of sacerdotal
iniquity. In Provence and Languedoc priests were
insulted by the mob and lampooned by minstrels.
Their services were rejected with contempt, their ges-
tures were mocked, their vices satirized with pitiless
severity. The English populace, exasperated beyond
measure by their wrongs, occasionally proceeded
to acts of violence. In some towns an ecclesiastic
was hardly safe on the streets. No clerk dared to
commit himself or his cause to the verdict of a jury.
A handful of worshippers was lost in the nave of the
cathedral, where thousands once had congregated.
Women went unshriven rather than trust themselves
in the confessional, whose precincts, from being the
abode of religious advice and consolation, had grown
dangerous to the preservation of feminine honor. In
1746 a remonstrance was made to the Primate of
England against the participation of women in pil-
362 History of the
grimages, as the cities of France, Lombardy, and the
Rhine were filled with courtesans, who had abused
these opportunities for the exhibition of religious zeal.
The authority of the ecclesiastical tribunals was openly
defied, their proceedings derided, their judges in-
sulted, their subordinate officers maltreated. In Lon-
don, towards the close of the fifteenth century, it was
a serious matter to attempt to serve a process of the
Consistorial Court. The power for evil of this once
formidable engine of persecution, which had exercised
an offensive censorship over every community, had
become hopelessly impaired.
Of such a character were the religious instructors of
the people of Western Christendom for five hundred
years. The original austerity of the monastic orders
had disappeared. In no instance had it actually sur-
vived the first century dating from the institution of
any ecclesiastical fraternity. With it had departed by
far the greater portion of its capacity for usefulness.
The daily lives of the secular priesthood presented dis-
gusting examples of human depravity. Among the
laity, the rich, at least, were secure from damnation;
for by a judicious and liberal offering and the deposit
of a schedule of their sins under the altar-cloth of
a compassionate saint, in a few hours the sheet was
found to be blank and the generous penitent, by the
immediate intercession of his patron, was absolved
from the consequences of his transgressions without
the delay or the exposure of confession. The foun-
dation of a religious house was often derived from
the fears or the repentance of a wealthy and supersti-
tious sinner. An immense tract of unimproved land
was conveyed to a colony of monks. In the most
sequestered spot, far removed from the turmoil, the
vanities, and the temptations of the world, an unpre-
tending structure, composed of wattled boughs and
thatched with straw or rushes, was constructed. The
Moorish Empire in Europe 363
surrounding forest was stocked with game. A neigh-
boring lake or streamlet furnished a supply of fish.
In many fraternities, however, such food was for-
bidden, for the austerity of discipline sometimes per-
mitted nothing but a meagre diet of herbs and pulse
washed down with water. The obligations of their
profession as well as the necessity of sustenance re-
quired that a portion of their time should be spent in
the cultivation of the soil. A number of the brethren
labored in the fields while the others attended to the
domestic and sacred duties enjoined by their monastic
vows. In some monkish abodes the voice of praise was
never silent. Relays of choristers occupied the chapel
without intermission day or night. The summons to
devotion were frequent. To preserve decorum, spies
were appointed to report irregularities of conduct
within the monastery. No monk was permitted to
leave its precincts without a companion, that each
might restrain the other from the indulgence in sinful
thoughts and carnal recreations. In the cloister the
recluse was constantly reminded of the requirements
and obligations of his profession by the fervent exhor-
tations of his superior and the enforced observance of
silence, meditation, and prayer. By self -infliction of
grievous penances, scourging, fasting, wearing of
shirts of haircloth or mail, immersion in water of icy
coldness, worldly temptations and sensual desires
were effectually suppressed, and mind and body were
devoted to the ostensible and original objects of mon-
achal life, the service and the glorification of God.
In time their modest and contracted habitations
became too small to accommodate the increasing num-
bers or to satisfy the ambitious zeal of the pious breth-
ren. The wealth derived from the assiduous cultiva-
tion of their lands, the profits of their trade, the con-
tributions of royal visitors, and the generosity of their
founders enabled them to erect buildings whose im-
364 History of the
posing proportions and exquisite ornamentation are
the delight and the despair of modern architects. The
church dedicated to a certain saint was founded on the
day preserved by tradition as the date of his birth. A
vigil was maintained, and when the first rays of the
sun reddened the horizon the work was commenced.
As the point where that luminary appeared was taken
for the east, on account of the constantly varying posi-
tion of the sun in the heavens there are but few eccle-
siastical edifices constructed during the Middle Ages
whose walls correspond with the four cardinal points
of the compass. In the ranks of the religious brother-
hoods were to be found artisans of every description,
whose professional efforts were prompted and encour-
aged by the inspiring spirit of religious devotion.
Such were the dimensions of these magnificent struct-
ures that the chapels of many abbeys such as St.
Albans, Southwell, St. Ouen, Durham, Canterbury
are now cathedral churches of some of the richest dio-
ceses of France and England. The architectural
splendor of Westminster is familiar to every traveller.
The buildings included in the great Cistercian Abbey
of Tinterne, which were enclosed by a wall, were dis-
tributed over thirty-four acres. The symmetry and
beauty of the Gothic temples of Normandy are un-
impaired and unrivalled after the revolutions of more
than seven centuries. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction
of some sees extended over as many as seven thousand
mansi, or cottages of serfs; those who only received
the tribute of two thousand were so numerous as to be
comparatively insignificant.
All the possessions of the clergy were exempt from
taxation. Tithes, at first limited to a tenth of the
products of the soil, were, by ecclesiastical artifice and
Papal rapacity, extended and made to include the
entire yield of every crop, the increase of every herb,
the labor of every artisan. Without taking into ac-
Moorish Empire in Europe 365
count the territorial area in the hands of the See of
Rome at the period of the Reformation, the monastic
guilds and corporations had absorbed half of the
livings of Great Britain. The revenues of some re-
ligious foundations in that country were not less
than fifty thousand pounds sterling, reckoning vol-
untary donations alone. In the thirteenth century the
English clergy bore to the laity the ratio of one to four
hundred in number, while their lands amounted to
thirty -three per cent, of the entire real property of the
kingdom. In Spain during the same period the pro-
portion of ecclesiastics was one to seven, and fifty per
cent, of the landed possessions under Christian control
belonged to them. The pressing necessities of grasp-
ing and irreverent princes, who did not scruple to
appropriate under various pretexts the riches of the
ecclesiastical order, alone prevented the eventual ex-
clusion of the laity of Europe from all ownership of
or jurisdiction over the soil.
No religious service could be more solemn, no spec-
tacle more awe-inspiring, than the celebration of a
Church festival in one of the grand old abbey chapels
in mediaeval times. The edifice itself was the ideal of
architectural beauty. Through the elegant designs
of painted windows, the light, in iridescent hues, shone
in tempered radiance over the richly sculptured tombs
of prelate and crusader and the checkered pavement
brilliant with its graceful patterns of tile and marble
mosaic. The walls of nave and transept were hung
with tapestry, embroidered sometimes with represen-
tations of scriptural events, sometimes with the fig-
ures of departed abbots or the portraits of a line of
famous kings. The altar, before whose holy presence
constantly burned rows of waxen tapers, glittered
with ornaments bestowed by the hand of opulent
piety and massive reliquaries set with priceless gems.
The resounding notes of the Gregorian chant filled
366 History of the
the air; the officiating monks in splendid vestments,
the pomp of crucifix and incense, added to the impres-
siveness of the ceremonial and imparted to the scene a
striking representation of divine worship which could
hardly be paralleled in Rome itself. Truly, in its
palmy days the monastery was an important adjunct
to Papal power and grandeur!
From the consideration of the manifold vices and
flagrant corruption with which the life of monastic
institutions was tainted, it becomes a pleasure to enu-
merate the benefits that these establishments conferred
upon humanity. First in importance is the fact that
they were the depositories of learning during the Dark
Ages. The requirements of the sacred profession,
whose dogmas they were designed to uphold and prop-
agate, demanded the possession of some degree of
knowledge. The standard of intelligence was far
higher in the monastery than in the chapter house of
the cathedral or in the episcopal palace. Many of the
secular clergy could neither read nor write; their ex-
position of the sacraments was pronounced in an inco-
herent jargon, and a canon who understood grammar
was an object of general wonder and respect. The
lewd and profane character of the discourses from
the pulpit was often such that it would not be toler-
ated for an instant by the fastidious delicacy of a
modern audience. The enjoyment of abundant lei-
sure, the praiseworthy impulse of accumulating infor-
mation which might prove of advantage, both in
disseminating the truths of the Gospel and in mag-
nifying the importance of their order, actuated a cer-
tain number of the inmates of every cloister to the
transcription of books, to the studj'' of authors, to the
illumination of missals. Some wrote poems in Latin.
Others, like Hrotswitha, the German nun of Ganders-
heim, composed dramas in imitation of the classics.
These literary efforts, while often coarse in sentiment,
Moorish Empire in Europe 367
immoral in tendency, and crude in execution, seem
prodigies of learning when we recall the dense atmos-
phere of ignorance in which they were produced. In
the abbey were preserved contemporaneous records
not only of all transactions in which that institution
was concerned, but also many details of affairs of
national interest, which furnished in after ages inval-
uable data to the historian. In many convents there
existed schools where novices as well as the chil-
dren of the peasantry could receive rudimentary in-
struction. Books, among which is mentioned the
Fables of ^sop, were chained to tables in the halls
for the benefit of those pupils. The great impulse
given to intellectual progress by Wyclif 's incomplete
translation of the Bible in the fourteenth century is
indicated by the ludicrous complaint of an old monk-
ish chronicler, who lamented that " Women are now
grown more versed in the New Testament than
learned clerks." Coincident with that auspicious
event, the monopoly of letters, so long enjoyed and
perverted by the clergy, came to an end. In cases
where the interests of religion were thought to be im-
perilled, the monks did not hesitate to obstruct the
path of knowledge. Through their influence the
study of physics and of law was forbidden in the
twelfth century to the students of the University of
Montpellier. In contradistinction to this spirit of
offensive bigotry, it must not be forgotten that the
first printing-presses used in Europe were placed in
monasteries.
The seclusion of monasticism encouraged to a con-
siderable extent the love of the arts. In beauty of
design and completeness of finish the efforts of the
Gothic architect have never been surpassed. Book-
making was carried to an advanced state of perfection.
From unwieldy volumes with wooden leaves, bound
in leaden covers, manuscripts developed into the ex-
368 History of the
quisite specimens of calligraphic and decorative ele-
gance so prized by modern collectors. Some were
written in gold and silver letters on purple vellum.
The illuminations whence was derived the first in-
spiration of modern painting were often the work
of years. The bindings were of carved ivory or of
the precious metals, not infrequently enriched with
jewels. Those volumes destined for the service of the
altar sometimes enclosed a reliquary and became
doubly precious, as well by reason of the sacred me-
mento they contained as on account of their costly
materials and the labor expended upon them. The
art of the sculptor owes much to the diligence and
skill displayed by the mediaeval wood-carver, whose
handiwork is visible in the stalls and altar-screens
of Gothic cathedrals. The embroidered vestments
wrought by nuns during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries are marvels of ornamentation, patience, and
dexterity. Constant practice in the choir led to a con-
siderable advance in the knowledge of poetry and
music. Nor were philosophical pursuits, despite their
confessed antagonism to the Church, altogether neg-
lected. The name and acquirements of Pope Syl-
vester II. were to his contemporaries as well as to
posterity long suggestive of a compact with the Devil
and the practice of magic. Modern science, in its in-
discriminate censure of monasticism, should not forget
that the great natural philosophers of the Middle
Ages, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, belonged
to the orders of mendicant friars, for the one was a
Franciscan and the other a Dominican.
In the monastery was dispensed not only medical
aid, so far as the rudeness and ignorance of the super-
stitious practitioner allowed, but also unstinted and
gratuitous hospitality. The conventual establishment
was at once the hospital and the hotel of mediaeval
society. In the thinly peopled districts usually se-
Moorish Empiee in Eueope 369
lected by its founders, no public provision was made
for the relief of the sufferings of the invalid or the
necessities of the traveller, and both found within its
walls a generous and cordial greeting. Its sanctuary
covered the trembling victim of feudal oppression
with the mantle of its comfort and protection. Its
towers, secure in their sacred character, passed un-
scathed through the wreck of dynasties and the perils
of revolutionary violence. The substantial walls of
donjon and barbican went down under the assaults of
Norman, Saxon, Dane, and Lombard, but the abbey,
defenceless save in the immunity afforded by the holy
calling of its inmates, remained unchanged amidst
these scenes of universal disorder and ruin, the deposi-
tory of ancient learning, the refuge of the remnant
of those elegant social courtesies which had survived
the fall of imperial greatness, the asylum of the per-
secuted, the home of the arts, the preserver of civiHza-
tion in a martial and unenlightened age.
While Rome was the centre of ecclesiastical and
temporal power, Constantinople was the undisputed
seat of the refinement and culture of Christian
Europe. The transfer of the government of the
Empire to the confines of Asia had not, however,
destroyed the prestige which the Eternal City had
obtained by her glorious achievements in arts, in arms,
in Hterature, in politics, during so many centuries.
The new capital of the Caesars could not properly be
called a Roman city. Its population, after the first
fifty years following its foundation, was more Greek
than Latin, but its most distinctive features were
always Asiatic. The ordinary idiom of its citizens
was that of Ionia and Attica. The despotism of its
court, the manners of its people, bore the pronounced
stamp of the Orient. Its society was cosmopolitan,
and the relations it maintained through the channels
of trade with remote countries constantly filled its
Vol. III. 24
370 History of the
thoroughfares with picturesque and barbaric costumes.
The brutahty of the West, the vices of the East, the
superstitions of Africa, the cinielty of Italy, found a
congenial home on the shores of the Bosphorus. The
successors of Constantine claimed and exercised pre-
rogatives wholly inconsistent with the security of the
community or the principles of equity. They inter-
posed their authority to annul the sentences of judicial
tribunals. They inflicted frightful tortures without
the warrant of law or precedent. They imposed taxes
which impoverished even the wealthiest of their sub-
jects. They permitted their flatterers to extort ran-
soms, traflic in justice, and dispose of employments
without even the decorous pretext of concealment.
The mutual hatred existing between the bloodthirsty
factions of the capital, the ancient enmity of the
nobles, the jealousy of rival princes, which had more
than once caused disastrous riots, the tumultuous fury
of the rabble, induced the emperors to habitual^ dis-
trust the fidelity of those statesmen whose birth and
education best qualified them to direct the policy of
a great empire. As a necessity, therefore, eunuchs
were intrusted with the management of afl'airs of
state and filled the responsible oflices of the imperial
household. Surrounded by a crowd of dependents
and flatterers, these monsters were the fountain of all
honor and the recipients of all homage; while the
sovereign of the East, shorn of his actual power, was
left to the society of monks and parasites. An ex-
cessive love of pomp and of magnificent attire was a
marked trait of the Byzantine character. The impe-
rial train often included more than twenty thousand
servants, the majority of whom were eunuchs. The
eunuch was the most conspicuous personage in the
government, in the hierarchy, in commercial adven-
ture, in social amusement, in political intrigue. He
discharged the functions of a general often with
Moorish Empire in Europe 371
credit, sometimes with consmnmate skill. His secre-
tive habits and demeanor admirably fitted him for the
tortuous paths and insidious methods of diplomatic
intercourse. He was a power in the Byzantine hie-
rarchy. Members of his caste were exalted to high
positions in the ecclesiastical order. Some attained to
the supreme dignity of Patriarch, an office for cen-
turies of greater importance than that of Bishop of
Rome. Others controlled the wealthiest sees of the
Eastern Church. Monastic life seemed to possess a
peculiar attraction for them, and many convents in
Constantinople were peopled exclusively by the vic-
tims of man's deliberate cruelty. Some of these in-
stitutions contained nearly a thousand inmates. The
prominent part taken by this odious class in establish-
ing the standard of modern orthodoxy, through its in-
fluence on the ladies of the imperial household in the
early days of Christianity, is familiar to every reader
of Church history. The insatiable avarice and rapac-
ity of the eunuch impelled him to the accumulation
of wealth through the legitimate channels of foreign
commerce and domestic enterprise, as well as by the
more questionable means of servility and corruption.
His ships were known in every port of the Mediterra-
nean. He was identified with the largest mercantile
establishments of the capital. In every social assem-
bly he was conspicuous, in every conspiracy his con-
cealed but powerful hand was felt. His equipage was
the gayest, his train the most imposing on the streets.
In the circus he took precedence of haughty patri-
cians, whom he far eclipsed in splendor of costume.
Ever with an eye to his own aggrandizement, he whis-
pered treason in the ears of the nobles and instigated
the rabble to revolt. The sentiments of gratitude, of
sympathy, of charity, were unknown to him. The
frightful punishments inflicted by the court on politi-
cal offenders were notoriously suggested by his mahg-
372 History of the
nant genius. With the loss of his procreative power
seemed to have vanished every trace of honor, of jus-
tice, of humanity, of loyalty, of devotion. He was
execrated by the Byzantine populace, whose feelings
were expressed by the current saying, "If you have
a eunuch, kill him ; if you have none, buy one and kill
him I"
The government of the Byzantine Empire exhib-
ited a curious mixture of irresponsible power and ab-
ject dependence. The emperors displayed all the in-
signia and all the arrogance of despotism, while at the
same time they were really the slaves of their para-
sites. The career of a sovereign was certain to be a
short one if he manifested an inclination to indepen-
dence and to the assertion of his legal prerogatives. In
the court of Constantinople poisoning was reduced to
a science, and eunuchs, astrologers, priests, and char-
latans were ready instruments of ambition and re-
venge. The formalities attending the intercourse of
members of the royal family and the aristocracy were
so complicated as to require a long course of study to
master them. They were reduced to a code, familiar-
ity with whose rules was considered the greatest ac-
complishment of a courtier. While this frivolous cer-
emonial was being sedulously perfected, the constantly
receding frontiers of the Empire were abandoned to
the encroachments of the barbarians of the Baltic and
the Caspian. The state revenues were squandered
by ecclesiastics and insatiable favorites. Rapacious
tax-collectors displayed the character and adopted the
customs of licensed brigands. Their extortions be-
came so excessive and the distress of the people was
so great that three-fourths of the inhabitants of the
monarchy were officially inscribed upon the public reg-
isters as mendicants.
From the eighth to the twelfth century Constanti-
nople was, in all probability, the most opulent and
Moorish Empire in Europe 873
populous city in the world. It had inherited the tra-
ditions of the ancient Roman capital, while it had in a
great measure discarded the policy which had made
those traditions famous. The most exquisite of the
works of art that had escaped the fury of the bar-
barous hordes of Scythia and Gaul had been conveyed
within its walls. Its streets were lined with magnifi-
cent mansions, colonnades, temples. Everywhere rose
suggestive mementos of that great power whose
name had been renowned and feared from the High-
lands of Scotland to the banks of the Oxus. In forum
and garden the mean and stolid visages of sainted
monk and anchorite stood side by side with the noble
busts and statues of the most illustrious heroes and
citizens of classic Rome. The royal palaces were mod-
elled, some after the beautiful villas which had once
adorned the Campagna, others after plans suggested
by the Saracen architects of Bagdad. The churches
also bore evidence of the imitative character of Byzan-
tine art, which borrowed its inspiration from Greece
and the Orient. It is said that in 1403 there were three
thousand of them in the city. Monolithic columns of
different colored marble supported their domes,
sometimes as many as five in number, roofed with
tiles of gilded bronze. Their walls were incrusted
with lapis-lazuli and jasper. The sculpture in relief
was covered with gold. Elaborate patterns of ara-
besques in mosaics embellished the walls and formed
the pavements. The fountains were of silver and their
basins were filled with wine instead of water, for the
benefit of the Byzantine mob, whose struggles often
diverted the indolent leisure of the monarch and his
luxurious court. A separate dwelling was used by the
Emperor during each season of the year, and the
appointments and furniture of each of them were
adapted to the atmospheric vicissitudes of the climate
of Constantinople. In all the decorations of these
374s History of the
sumptuous edifices jewels were lavished in ostenta-
tious and semi-barbaric profusion. The perverted in-
genuity of the Byzantine inventor was expended in
the construction of curious toys that might delight the
simplicity of childhood, but which could hardly be ex-
pected to engage the attention of royalty, even in a
degenerate age. One of the masterpieces of these skil-
ful artisans was a tree of the precious metals with
foliage occupied by golden birds, whose shrill notes
filled the halls of the palace. Notwithstanding its
vast expenditure of treasure, such were the resources
of the Byzantine monarchy that even after its terri-
tory was contracted almost to the walls of the capital,
it still embraced the wealthiest community in Christen-
dom. The unrivalled commercial facilities enjoyed by
Constantinople more than counterbalanced for cen-
turies the disadvantages of political incapacity, na-
tional idleness, and official corruption. The losses
resulting from ecclesiastical quarrels, the sanguinary
revolutions of political factions, the ravages of Cru-
saders and the pestilence were speedily supplied from
the cities of Greece and the colonies of Asia Minor.
The heterogeneous elements of its population, thus
recruited from so many sources, early caused it to as-
sume the appearance and the character of the most
cosmopolitan of cities ; and as the capital was the type
of the entire region subject to the sovereign, it has
been remarked, not incorrectly, that the Byzantine
Empire was a government without a nation.
So marked, however, was the religious and intel-
lectual debasement of contemporaneous Europe that
the weakness and crimes of the Greek emperors passed
unnoticed amidst the recognized superiority of the
civilization which their wanton extravagance polluted.
The extent and magnitude of their commerce, the
splendor of their embassies, the munificence with
which they rewarded their allies, afforded the most
Moorish Empire in Europe 375
exaggerated ideas of their importance and power.
The pomp which invested their presence concealed the
deplorable conditions under whose restraints they were
compelled to direct the aifairs of their empire. The
political imbecility of the Greeks was, therefore, not
visible to their neighbors. These observed only the
gorgeous theatrical effects which sustained the pres-
tige of a decaying monarchy, and the alliance of the
princes of Constantinople was solicited alike by the
khalifs of Bagdad, Cairo, and Cordova, by the em-
perors of the West, and by the kings of England. In
the social polity of the Greeks the court was every-
thing and the people nothing. The natural law of
progress, by which man is encouraged to accumulate
wealth by the knowledge that he can enjoy it unmo-
lested, and is impelled to intellectual pursuits through
the hope of political advancement, a law practically
annulled by the Caesars of Rome, was entirely abol-
ished under the emperors of Byzantium. Little se-
curity could be expected from a government which
attempted to extort from the wretched peasant, whose
harvests had been swept away by the barbarian, the
same tax demanded from the prosperous merchant,
and made no allowance for the destitution for which
its own incapacity and corruption were responsible.
The most pernicious ideas relative to the duties and
privileges of citizenship had been imported from
Italy. The people were divided into castes. The aris-
tocracy considered all occupations carried on for profit
as disgraceful to a patrician. It was a maxim with
the populace, and one which it would have been dan-
gerous to controvert, that the state owed it sustenance
and amusement. In maintaining such a principle, the
lower classes could have no motive for labor, and the
rabble of Constantinople had not forgotten that the
Roman citizen who so far disregarded his dignity as
to become an artisan was ignominiously driven from
376 History of the
his tribe. The only career open to the aspiring ple-
beian was through the Church. To obtain a command-
ing position in the hierarchy, the favor and assistance
of a eunuch or of a princess of the royal family was
indispensable. The duties of the priesthood required
the possession of little intelligence and less education.
The affairs of palace and cathedral were usually ad-
ministered by emasculated monks, indebted for their
places to the ostentatious devotion or convenient ser-
vility by which they demonstrated their usefulness in
furthering the designs of ambitious patrons. While
the general licentiousness which scandalized the papal
court did not prevail to an equal extent among the
clergy of Constantinople, the lives of many of the
patriarchs were stained with vices equal in baseness
and impiety to any that defiled the character of the
worst of the pontiffs. Soldiers, eunuchs, parasites,
and tools of intriguing statesmen were elevated in turn
to the most eminent dignity of the Eastern Church.
Some carried with them into the episcopal palace the
manners and the license of the camp. Others, by en-
listing the services of the monks and the populace,
fomented sanguinary and disastrous revolutions.
Others again, by the monstrous extravagance of their
behavior and the irreverence which they displayed in
the discharge of their sacred functions, aroused the
indignation and incurred the censure of the devout.
Of the latter, Theophylactus offers a conspicuous ex-
ample. The sale of ecclesiastical preferments fur-
nished him regularly with means for the gratification
of his unholy passions. He was raised to the patri-
archal throne of Constantinople at the age of twelve
years. He introduced into the Greek ritual absurd
ceremonies and licentious hymns which, strange to re-
late, survived him for almost two centuries. To this
practice are traceable the riotous and obscene festivals
of the Middle Ages, when religion was travestied and
Moorish Empire in Europe 377
the rites of the Church profaned by license as gross
as that which characterized the excesses of the de-
cadent empire of the Csesars. He deprecated the
wrath of the Devil with heathen sacrifices. In his
stable were two thousand horses, which were fed on
almonds and figs steeped in wine, regaled with costly-
liquors, and sprinkled with the most exquisite per-
fumes. Not infrequently in the midst of the mass he
left his congregation to visit the stall of some favorite
charger. Could piety or virtue be expected from a
people whose spiritual necessities were ministered to
by such a prelate ?
With moral degeneracy came also intellectual de-
crepitude. A scanty but inestimable remnant of the
vast stores of learning which had instructed and de-
lighted the Pagan world had been rescued from the
hands of the ruthless barbarian and preserved on the
shores of the Bosphorus. But the scarcity of writing
materials and the ignorance and prejudice of the un-
lettered ecclesiastics into whose hands many of these
treasures fell insured their destruction. Great num-
bers of the productions of classic authors were erased
from the precious parchment to make room for the
legendary miracles of fictitious saints. Others per-
ished by mould and mildew in the dripping vaults of
monasteries and churches. Near the Cathedral of St.
Sophia there stood in the eighth century a great basil-
ica of unique and elegant design called the Octagon.
It was approached by eight magnificent porticos sup-
ported by pillars of white marble. The edifice itself
displayed the taste and skill of the Grecian architect,
whose type, while suggestive of the decline of an art
once carried to a perfection without parallel, was, even
in its decadence, superior to the masterpieces of all
other nations. Erected by Constantine the Great for
purposes of religious worship, JuHan had consecrated
it to literature, had deposited within its halls his ex-
378 History of the
tensive library, and had established there an academy
in imitation of the famous Museum founded by the
Ptolemies at Alexandria. Here a corps of teachers,
maintained at the expense of the state, imparted in-
struction gratuitously on all branches of theology and
the arts. The library was open to every student of
whatever creed or nationality. A number of expert
calligraphists and scholars were constantly employed
in adding to the collection, or in reproducing manu-
scripts that had been damaged by abuse or neglect.
The professors of this university the only institution
worthy of the name in the entire realm of the empire
were held in the highest reverence. Sometimes their
opinions were taken on important questions of law and
diplomacy. Often their mediation was solicited by the
heads of contending factions. By the pre-eminence
of their acquirements and the weight attaching to their
decisions, they averted many a national catastrophe.
The incumbents of the most exalted places in the
Church were frequently taken from their ranks. Dur-
ing the season of its prosperity no institution of learn-
ing outside of the dominions of the khalif s wielded such
a salutary influence or was regarded with such respect
and homage by all classes of mankind as the Octagon
of Constantinople. In the reign of Zeno, when it was
consumed by fire, this famous edifice contained a
library of a hundred and twenty thousand volumes.
Among the treasures lost in the conflagration was a
wonderful manuscript of the works of Homer, more
than one hundred feet long, composed of serpent skins
inscribed with characters of gold. Restored by the
emperors to some degree of its former splendor, Leo
the Isaurian, who, after repeated interviews, had
failed to convert to his iconoclastic views the teachers
of the University, determined to effectually silence
those who had so signally refuted his arguments. Se-
cretly, and during the night, an immense quantity of
Moorish Empire in Europe 379
combustibles was distributed about the building, the
torch was applied, detachments of troops prevented
all attempts at rescue, and the assembled wisdom and
learning of the Byzantine Empire perished in one in-
discriminate ruin. From this inexcusable act of van-
dalism dates the disappearance of many of the great-
est works of the poets, philosophers, and historians of
antiquity. What the iconoclast had begun the cru-
sader completed. The storming of the capital by the
Latins dealt another destructive blow to literature.
The martial fanaticism of the West saw nothing to
admire and much to execrate in the immortal produc-
tions of Pagan genius. The ignorant monks who fol-
lowed in the train of the Count of Flanders and the
Marquis of Montf errat showed scant consideration to
such of the classics as fell into their hands. The pre-
cious remains that survived this age of violence, super-
stition, and intellectual apathy rested uncared for and
forgotten in the seclusion of private libraries and the
sacred recesses of the cloister until they were resur-
rected by the insatiable demand for knowledge which
distinguished the people of Europe during the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries.
In every phase of social as well as of intellectual
life, the national inferiority of the Byzantine was
manifest. He could copy with a fair degree of skill,
but he could not originate. He absorbed little and
created almost nothing. The works of art in which he
took most pride were rather indebted for their value
to the nature of their materials than to the labor and
ingenuity that had produced them. In the style of
ornamentation, especially as regards the pattern of
textile fabrics and the settings of jewels, the Syrian
taste, which delighted in floral designs and the forms
of grotesque animals, predominated. There was little
in the work of the Byzantine sculptor to call to mind
the simplicity and delicacy that pre-eminently distin-
380 History of the
guished the exquisite products of the Attic chisel.
Yet its imitative tendency induced the genius of the
Eastern Empire to borrow from all its neighbors, and
especially from Greece, whose art had greatly retro-
graded even before the accession of Constantine.
The adoption of Christianity as the religion of the
state was most unfavorable to sculpture, which was
associated by the ignorant with the representation and
worship of the gods of antiquity. The term " Byzan-
tine," as applied to decoration, is most comprehensive,
and, employed by writers at will, has become indefinite.
When examples of this style possess marked charac-
teristics, however, and can readily be identified, they
show clearly the impress of foreign influence, result-
ing commercial activity, and intimate diplomatic rela-
tions of the Greek Empire with nations of the most
discordant customs and religious traditions. The mu-
ral designs in mosaic peculiar to Constantinople were
reproduced in temples dedicated to the ceremonial of
widely different creeds, as the Mosque of Cordova, the
Church of St. Mark at Venice, and the Cathedral of
St. Isaac at St. Petersburg.
The division of society into castes was the most
serious and insurmountable impediment to progress
encountered by the people of the Greek Empire. Pub-
lic opinion was voiced by the court at the instigation
of the clergy. There was one law for the members of
the imperial household and another for all who did not
enjoy that adventitious privilege. What was a crime
in the citizen was scarcely considered an error in the
patrician. The tradesmen, who to some extent con-
stituted a middle class, were not wealthy or influential
enough to own slaves, a criterion of social impor-
tance, and in nine cases out of ten sympathized with,
if they did not actually support, the claims of the
rabble. The cultivator of the soil, uncertain whether
he would be permitted to enjoy the fruit of his labors,
MooEiSH Empire in Europe 381
through the rapacity of the imperial officials or the
relentless fury of the barbarians, pursued his useful
vocation to little purpose. In a region proverbial for
fertility, under a sky unusually favorable to the
husbandman, there was no uniformity in the amount
of the yield, no certainty of even a moderate harvest.
Under the same atmospheric conditions a year of fam-
ine often succeeded a year of the greatest abundance.
The most lucrative branch of commerce was the slave-
trade. The Saracen pirates, who swarmed in the
Mediterranean, exchanged their captives in the mar-
kets of Byzantium for Baltic amber, Chinese silks,
Arabian spices, and Indian jewels. These slaves, both
male and female, were sold to Jews, who disposed of
them to the Moslems of Persia, Egypt, Mauritania,
and Spain. The manufacture of eunuchs was not
only a profitable industry, but was often resorted to
with a view to the future political or ecclesiastical pro-
motion of the unfortunate subject. Parents muti-
lated their children in the hope that they might rise to
the administration of important dignities in the palace
or the Church. Unsuccessful aspirants to the throne
were compelled to undergo this painful and dangerous
operation, and were then confined for life in some
secluded monastery. The abject degeneracy of the
nation further revealed itself by the infliction of even
more inhuman and revolting punishments. Political
conspirators were flayed alive. Vivisection was prac-
tised upon criminals not sufficiently adroit or wealthy
to escape the vigilance of the magistrate. Ofl*enders
guilty of public sacrilege were scourged, crucified, or
burnt. With the intellectual debasement indicated by
the enjoyment of human suffering were mingled the
most puerile superstitions. Every class of society,
from the emperor to the peasant, was a firm believer
in visions, omens, auguries. The flight of birds was
observed, the entrails of a slaughtered animal exam-
382 History of the
ined with an eagerness never surpassed by that of the
votaries of Paganism. The occurrence of an inau-
spicious event, an unusual dream, an apparent prod-
igy, overwhehned the unhappy Byzantine with dis-
may. Still tinctured with the idolatrous superstition
of his fathers, he secretly placed gifts upon the de-
faced altars of ruined temples, consulted the silent
oracles, endeavored to propitiate the neglected gods
by nocturnal sacrifices. Belief in the evil-eye was uni-
versal, a delusion not extinct even in our day among
the more ignorant peasantry of Italy, who think that
the possession and exercise of this myterious power
is one of the prerogatives of the Pope. In such a
community the charlatans who thrive by the weakness
of mankind were not wanting. Astrologers were con-
sidered necessary appendages to the grandeur of the
imperial court. They abounded in every quarter of
the city, and were regarded by the populace with feel-
ings of mingled fear and veneration. Even members
of the priesthood, terrified by some unfamiliar natural
phenomenon, which their ignorance suggested might
portend an imminent calamity, did not hesitate to
openly visit these impostors.
To the hands of these two great powers, the Papacy
of Rome and the Empire of the Greeks, were virtually
intrusted the destinies of the vast and constantly in-
creasing population of Europe. Their evil influence
over the minds of men was incalculable. What the
unprincipled methods and insolent pretensions of the
former failed to effect was supplied by the political
duplicity of the latter. While often apparently at
variance, they were in reality, though unconsciously,
seeking to compass a common end, the moral, social,
and intellectual degradation of humanity. No con-
ceptions of honor, consistency, generosity, or pa-
triotism affected the policy of either. Is it sur-
prising that under such circumstances and with such
Moorish Empire in Europe 383
masters the society of the Christian world should have
remained for many centuries absolutely stagnant,
without advancement in the arts, without incentives
to literary effort, without exertion in the fascinating
domain of science, almost without the consolation of
hope beyond the grave ? When we consider the bound-
less opportunities for good in the grasp of these two
great enemies of human progress, and the energy and
ability employed by one of them especially to stifle all
inquiry and every aspiration for mental improvement,
we may realize the extent of the darkness which en-
veloped the society of Europe for nearly a thousand
years, and appreciate the efforts of the Mohammedan
nations, whose self-instructed genius illumined with
such a brilliant light the path of civilization and
knowledge.
The most pernicious and debasing conditions of
Byzantine society prevailed to even a greater degree
in the brutalized communities of Central and Western
Europe. In no country of that continent did there
exist a firmly established or legally constituted gov-
ernment. The authority of the sovereign was nominal
and complimentary, obeyed when it was more con-
venient to do so than to dispute it, and practically
recognized under protest. The order of succession was
perpetually violated. Ambitious vassals overturned
thrones won by the valor of great chieftains, or ruled
with despotic power in the names of their feeble
progeny. Anarchy prevailed throughout those prov-
inces whose population was not intimidated by the
immediate presence of the court. Property and life
were at the mercy of banditti in the pay and under
the protection of powerful nobles, who complacently
shared the spoils and the infamy of these highway
plunderers. The savage and absurd customs imported
by barbarians from the forests of Germany and Brit-
ain usurped the office of laws approved by the wisdom
384 History of the
and practice of Roman jurisprudence. The decay of
that science under the later emperors, and especially
under the system established by Constantine, must be
attributed to the increasing interest in religious doc-
trines and theological controversy, which ignored the
talents and ambition once exercised in the profession
of the civil law. The priest had become the successful
rival of the advocate, and ecclesiastical preferment
was prized more highly by the educated than the
triumphs of judicial learning and forensic eloquence.
The arm of the strongest determined the justice of a
cause without the formalities of evidence and argu-
ment. A graduated tariff of compensation for bodily
injury existed, and any offence could be expiated by
the payment of a stipulated sum. The imposition and
collection of taxes were not regulated by any estab-
lished principles, and the obvious rules of political
economy were violated in the application and enforce-
ment of the fiscal regulations. Amidst the universal
disorder, the Church lost no opportunity to increase
her acquisitions and consolidate her power. She en-
couraged the continuance of the incredible ignorance
and inhumanity of the age. She resolutely set her
face against every attempt of the laity to shake off
the fetters imposed upon it by violence and super-
stition. She punished with atrocious severity the
slightest manifestation to question the genuineness
of her pretensions or the validity of her canons.
The warlike and pugnacious spirit of an age gov-
erned by force affected even a profession generally
associated with the offices of mercy and peace. For
centuries among the Saxons it was the bishop and not
the king who conferred the distinction of knighthood.
In martial assemblies no difference existed in the ap-
pearance of the prelate and the warrior. The panoply
and weapons of the field were often also a feature of
ecclesiastical convocations. Godfrey, Archbishop of
Moorish Empire in Europe 385
Narbonne, presided in complete armor over councils
called to determine points of religious doctrine. The
Bishop of Cahors, in Provence, refused to say mass
unless his sword and gauntlets had been previously
deposited on the altar. The Treasurer of the Cathe-
dral of Nevers appeared in the choir armed to the
teeth and with his hawk upon his wrist. In Langue-
doc, during the thirteenth century, it was the practice
of priests to settle questions in dispute by fisticuffs.
After the destruction of the Roman Empire, the
fii'st attempt to reorganize society was made by the
institution of the Feudal System. It was an instance
of the selection of the lesser of two evils. In consid-
eration of protection, the vassal paid homage to his
lord and promised him military and other services
under certain ill-defined conditions. Defective and
susceptible of enormous abuses as this arrangement
was, it alleviated to some degree the misery of the
lower orders. Its jurisdiction was coextensive with
the dominions formerly embraced by the empire of
Charlemagne. The temptation it held out to oppres-
sion more than neutralized the benefits it occasionally
conferred. It organized and perpetuated the most
vexatious of thraldoms, the tyranny of caste. It ap-
propriated all property in the soil, and a person not
of noble birth or ecclesiastical distinction was doomed
to the humiliating dependence of vassalage or serf-
dom. The nominal liberty originally enjoyed by the
descendants of the ancient Roman colonists was easily
forfeited by the non-payment of taxes, whose amount
was regulated by the caprice of the lord ; the failure
to perform military service or even the neglect to
observe obligations of trifling importance of them-
selves was sufficient to reduce the offender to a con-
dition of servitude.
The serfs were divided into two principal classes,
known to the technical jargon of the law as villains in
Vol. hi. 25
386 History of the
gross and villains regardant. The authority of the
lord over both of these was absolute and irresponsible ;
the former were attached to his person and, like other
chattels, could be sold or otherwise disposed of; the
latter belonged to the soil and could under no circum-
stances be alienated. In every case villains were in-
ventoried and valued as beasts of burden. They ex-
perienced all the hardships that greed and malice could
invent or cruelty inflict. Not only were they exposed
to the violence and rapacity of their superiors, but they
were subject to the exaction of certain privileges
which could only have been tolerated in an age wholly
devoid of the principles of honor, justice, and decency.
A conveyance for the transfer of a fief scarcely
deigned to mention the wretched creatures who in the
eye of the law formed a part of the glebe, and one
from which the latter derived its principal value. The
avarice of unfeeling lords compelled the peasant to
labor throughout the night and to share the lodgings
of the cattle. Around his neck was soldered a metal
collar, sometimes of brass, often of silver, on which
were engraved his name and that of his master. His
manhood was entirely destroyed; he possessed no
rights, enjoyed no liberties, participated in no diver-
sions. His identity was lost, his very being was
merged into the soil on whose surface he toiled from
early childhood until released by death. No more
pathetic and forlorn example of the deplorable eiFects
of human tyranny and human suiFering exists than
that presented by the life of the villain regardant of
the Middle Ages.
The code of seignioral rights which governed the
lord in the relations he maintained with his vassals is
one of the most curious and remarkable collections in
the entire system of jurisprudence. Voluminous trea-
tises have been written upon it. Dictionaries have
been compiled in explanation of the obscure and tech-
Moorish Empire in Europe 387
nical terms by which its customs are designated. The
abuse of its prerogatives has led to more than one
event whose effects have been experienced in the fall
of empires, the institution of anarchy, the weakening
of religious sentiment, the destruction of social order.
By the provisions of this code, whose authority was
usually presumed to be based upon charters or capitu-
laries conferred by reigning monarchs, the suzerain,
always an individual of noble lineage or clerical im-
portance, was invested with all the powers of des-
potism, so far as the jurisdiction of his estates was
concerned. The infliction of the death penalty was
within his discretion. He could impose taxes at will,
and there was no check upon his rapacity except that
suggested by considerations of private interest. The
rights of legalized plunder were multiplied to an as-
tonishing degree for every important action of life,
for the performance of every labor, for every change
of condition, for birth, death, marriage, for the gath-
ering of harvests, for the construction of buildings,
for the keeping of animals, permission was required
and a contribution demanded. The virtue of the fe-
male serf was absolutely at the mercy of her lord. She
was the subject of the most flagitious and degrading
section in this code of infamy. The charters or the
prescriptive regulations of many fiefs conceded to the
lord the exercise of certain prior rights over the bride
of a vassal. Where such a privilege existed, none of
any rank who owed homage to prince or noble were
exempt from its enforcement. Known in difl'erent
countries by various names, in France, as Cuissage;
in Italy, as Cazzagio; in Flanders, as Bednood; in
Germany, as Reit-Schot; in England, as Maidenrent,
it was one of the most widely difl'used of all feudal
exactions. The gentlemen of the clergy practised it
most assiduously; they were among the first to adopt
and the last to relinquish it. This odious privilege
388 History of the
attached to the estates of most of the great abbeys and
sees of Catholic Europe. Its exertion might be com-
muted for a sum of money, but this was a matter en-
tirely dependent on the caprice of him who enjoyed it.
In different localities the interpretation of the general
law which sanctioned its use was, by common consent,
enlarged, and its indiscriminate infliction was not in-
frequently imposed upon the serfs of a neighbor as a
penalty for trespass and other misdemeanors. Mod-
ern propriety will not tolerate the enumeration of the
curious and revolting details concerning the *' Droit
de prelibation," with which the ancient charters of
mediaeval times are filled. The evils resulting from
this custom frequently aroused the indignation of
even the meek and plodding villain, and incited him
to assassination and rebellion. It is an extraordinary
circumstance, however, that the victim most nearly
affected by the operation of this iniquitous law, which
had a direct tendency permanently to impair domes-
tic happiness and cast a stigma upon the offspring
of every family, never complained of its hardships.
Among all the remonstrances and memorials presented
during the Middle Ages to monarchs and legislative
bodies which have been preserved, and many of which
are signed by women, not a single instance can be
found where a female vassal requested the abolition
of a custom whose continuance was a constant menace
to her modesty and virtue.
The essential principles of feudalism were territo-
rial and martial. The right to receive homage implied
the possession of real property and the privilege of
private warfare. The soldier was the controlling
power in the state. Questions affecting the integrity
or loyalty of an individual, the liability for civil for-
feiture or criminal punishment, the settlement of a
boundary, the vindication of personal honor, were re-
ferred, not to a judicial tribunal to be determined by
Moorish Empire in Europe 389
the application of well-established rules and prece-
dents, but to the wager of battle. In cases where
heresy was suspected, other and even more absurd
tests, such as the ordeals by fire and water, were
adopted. No rational ideas existed for the ascertain-
ment of truth or the dispensation of justice. Every
nation was subject to a haughty and cruel aristocracy,
whose tyranny was sometimes tempered and some-
times aggravated by the influence of the clerical order,
as its interests or its passions at the time might dictate.
Whenever a rebellious spirit was evinced by the peas-
antry, and the authority of the barons was not strong
enough to suppress it, bands of foreign mercenaries
and outlaws were enlisted, who were paid with the ef-
fects of the serfs which had escaped the rapacity of
the suzerain. The maintenance of a system which
countenanced the settlement of private feuds by the
sword and admitted the virtual independence of the
nobles was, of course, inimical to the dignity and
power of the sovereign. In France the seignioral fiefs
bestowed by charters numbered five thousand, and
their lords exercised jurisdiction over thirty thousand
villages. There were abbeys whose domains were
tilled by as many as twenty thousand serfs attached
to the glebe. This enumeration did not include the
villains in gross, who sometimes exceeded in number
all the other retainers and dependents of the lords.
The greater portion of the vast territory administered
by the hierarchy under the customs of feudalism was
obtained from wealthy pilgrims and crusaders, who
sacrificed their earthly possessions to the thrifty priest-
hood for a trifle in the vain expectation of securing a
celestial inheritance. By means of this folly, as well
as through the effects of ecclesiastical oppression and
torture, France lost thirty-three per cent, of its popu-
lation during the thirteenth century. In Saxon Eng-
land the peasants had absolutely no guaranty of pro-
390 History of the
tection. Their property was appropriated and their
persons enslaved by the petty kings and piratical
chieftains who contended in incessant warfare for con-
trol of the affairs of Britain. The conquest by the
Normans was productive of little improvement. A
tyranny of race and caste arose, aggravated by the
worst features of the Feudal System, and the despised
and humiliated Saxon was degraded almost to the
level of a brute. During this unhappy epoch the law
of force was paramount throughout Europe. The
moral influence exerted by the clergy through the
medium of superstitious fear afforded the only in-
stance where obedience was not dependent upon the
sword. AVhere the privileges of feudalism were com-
bined with the exactions of sacerdotal avarice and in-
tolerance, the lot of the serf was indeed grievous. But
in cases that did not compromise the prestige or affect
the revenues of the hierarchy, the Church not infre-
quently interposed to protect the victim of aristocratic
persecution and injustice. The savage baron, all but
omnipotent elsewhere, dared not invade the hallowed
precincts of her sanctuary. Under the beneficent
shadow of her altar the fugitive peasant was safe
from the vengeance of his oppressor. By the tender
of her mediation in the quarrels of powerful chief-
tains, peace was re-established over extensive provinces
where anarchy and implacable hatred had long held
sway. And it was by her aid, combined with the ef-
forts of the outraged Third Estate, and encouraged
by monarchs whose prerogatives had been usurped,
that the offensive and cruel rights of feudalism were
finally abolished. The Crusades struck a fatal blow
at the system by impoverishing the lords through the
alienation of their estates and the consequent over-
throw of their power. For this service, if for no other,
posterity owes to the priesthood an incalculable debt
of gratitude. So firmly rooted were many of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 391
practices of the Feudal System that to this day they
have not been entirely eradicated. Ceremonies un-
questionably derived from seignioral privileges are
still observed in remote districts of France and Italy.
The statutes of England and her colonies have not
yet been purged of provisions and terms which sug-
gest to the legal antiquary the mutual obligations of
vassal and suzerain.
The relative position of nations in the scale of bar-
barism or civilization is largely determined by the
nature of their tastes and favorite occupations, by
their pastimes, by the means which they invent or
adopt to add to the comforts and conveniences of
daily life. During the greater portion of the period
under consideration in this chapter, the existence of
the people of Europe, without distinction of rank or
resources, was a purely animal one. The necessities
of the fortress, the camp, and the hovel were easily
supplied. Articles of the simplest construction and
most inexpensive materials, whose uses must have oc-
curred spontaneously to the most unimaginative mind,
and are now considered indispensable in every house-
hold, were unknown. The castle of the noble partook
of all the forbidding characteristics of a prison. Its
frowning donjon, its impassable moat, its embattled
walls, its jealously guarded portals, were suggestive
of tyranny and disorder. The interior was not more
inviting. The halls were cold and cheerless; the
gloomy chambers, into whose damp recesses the rays
of the sun struggled with difficulty through narrow,
unglazed windows, the stone seats, the massive furni-
ture and mildewed tapestry were typical of the coarse
simplicity and unsettled condition of society in that
age. The banqueting hall, where hospitality was dis-
pensed on state occasions with rude magnificence, was
at almost every meal the scene of gluttony and uncon-
trolled inebriety.
392 History of the
The decorations and their surroundings exhibited
the greatest possible incongruity. Hangings of silk
and velvet embroidered with gold were suspended
against whitewashed walls. Plate of the precious
metals was served upon tables of rough and uneven
boards. The mailed foot of the knight and the dainty
slipper of the chatelaine reposed upon undressed flags,
whose coldness was somewhat counteracted by a cover-
ing of straw or fragrant herbs. In the viands abun-
dance was considered rather than excellence of flavor,
which, however, on extraordinary occasions was sup-
posed to be supplied by the use of rose-water profusely
sprinkled over every dish. The repast, where incred-
ible quantities of food were consumed, was character-
ized by coarse jests and barbaric revelry. The favor-
ite beverage was beer, often brewed in the castle and
indulged in to disgusting excess; for through its
potency the festivities became the fatal cause of inde-
scribable libertinism and sanguinary encounters. The
guests were served by squires and pages, youths of
rank, who, inmates of the castle, acquired there a
knowledge of arms as well as an acquaintance with
the more doubtful accomplishments of gaming and
amorous intrigue. The intimate associations and do-
mestic character of mediaeval society arising from a
sparse population removed all suspicion of menial ser-
vice from this duty, which was considered highly hon-
orable, and was gladly performed by the proudest
noble at the board of his royal suzerain.
The amusements of the feudal lord were confined
to war or its substitute, the chase. In the intervals of
peace the tournament supplied the necessary practice
in arms as well as the military pomp and excitement
of the field. One of the favorite diversions of both
the nobility and the wealthier clergy was flying the
falcon. An extraordinary importance attached to the
possession and use of these birds of prey. Property
Moorish Empire in Europe 893
in them was inviolate. They were inseparably con-
nected with the aristocratical or personal privileges of
the owner, and could not be alienated, even with his
consent, for the ransom of their master. Persons of
plebeian station were not permitted to purchase or
keep them. They were universally recognized sym-
bols of suzerainty. Kings, bishops, abbots, ladies
never went abroad without these birds upon their fists.
Warriors carried them in battle. Prelates deposited
them in the chancel while they recited the service of
the altar. The regulations of falconry constituted a
science only to be mastered after months of assiduous
study. The education of these birds required the ex-
ertion of great skill and boundless patience. Each
falcon was carried upon a glove which could not be
used for any other. It bore the arms of the master,
and was often embroidered with gold and ornamented
with jewels. In many kingdoms the office of Grand
Falconer was one of the greatest distinction and im-
portance. In France the emoluments of this dignitary
were eighty thousand francs a year, and gentlemen of
rank eagerly competed for the subordinate employ-
ments at his disposal.
The supreme ambition of baronial life was the fame
that attached to martial deeds and romantic adventure.
The first care of the noble was to secure himself
against the treachery and violence of his neighbors.
His castle, perched upon a lofty eminence, was fur-
nished with every device to render it impregnable.
The most incessant vigilance was adopted to provide
against surprise. In front of the gateway, or pro-
jected from the summit of the keep and overhanging
the moat, was a gibbet, a significant reminder to male-
factors of the consequences of violated law or resisted
oppression. By the over-scrupulous, immunity was
purchased from the Church with the proceeds of the
spoliation of the helpless. On all sides in the bloody
394i History of the
traditions of the moated stronghold, with its subterra-
nean dungeons and its instruments of torture; in the
license of the armored troop that rode down the ripen-
ing harvest and levied blackmail on the trader and the
pilgrim ; in the perpetual labors of the uncomplaining
serf; in the outraged modesty of weeping woman-
hood ; in the summary execution of suspected offend-
ers against feudal privilege, everywhere were visible
the brutalizing effects of unrestrained cruelty and ir-
responsible power.
But with all their defects, the baronial institutions
of mediaeval times bestowed upon society advantages
that in some measure compensated for the evil which
they too often occasioned. The military tastes of the
age gave rise to the laws of chivalry and the institution
of knighthood, whence in turn were derived graces and
amenities of social intercourse hitherto unpractised by
the savage warriors of Gallic and Saxon Europe.
The tournament was, as might be imagined, the
most popular of the diversions of the Middle Ages.
From far and near multitudes flocked to the scene
of martial skill and splendor. The town where it
was held presented the aspect of an immense fair.
For leagues around the country was dotted with tents,
and with pavilions surmounted by the pennons of the
chivalry of many lands. The retinues of prince and
noble not infrequently assumed the dimensions of an
army. The followers of Gottfried, Duke von Lowen,
at Trazignies in 1169 numbered three thousand. At
a tournament near Soissons in 1175, Count Baldwin
von Hennegau appeared with an escort of a hundred
knights and twelve hundred esquires. The blazons of
the most ancient and celebrated houses of Europe
were conspicuous in the vast encampment. Kings fre-
quently held their courts within its precincts. All
classes were in holiday garb. The magnificence of the
spectacle was enlianced by gorgeously caparisoned
Moorish Empire in Europe 895
horses, damascened harnesses, waving plumes, many
colored silks, sparkling jewels, the parade of men-at-
arms, the pomp of marching squadrons, the resplen-
dent charms of female beauty. The contest, repeat-
edly, but without effect, prohibited by the edicts of
Pope and Council, was conducted with all the ferocity
of battle. The thirst of blood predominated over
every other sentiment. It was not an unusual occur-
rences for scores of knights to be carried lifeless from
the lists after one of these fierce encounters.
The point of honor which inspired the conduct of
the mediseval champion of distressed innocence and
avenger of privileged oppression had no existence
among the most civilized races of antiquity. The in-
dividuality implied by its exercise could not be com-
prehended by communities whose members, while ca-
pable of renouncing every tie of kindred in behalf of
the interests of the state and of undergoing the most
severe privations to sustain the national supremacy,
were prevented by the peculiar circumstances of their
surroundings from appreciating the qualities which
ennobled even the vices of the knight of the Middle
Ages. Without this prominent and compensating
feature the condition of society during the tenth,
eleventh, and twelfth centuries would have been one
of unredeemed and unequivocal barbarism.
The coarse though abundant fare of the castle
board, the more delicate but still far from dainty
viands of the monastic refectory, the boisterous amuse-
ments which occupied the leisure and menaced the
safety of the participants, the drunken revels of glut-
tonous banquets, the incessant perils of domestic war-
fare, to which baron and monk were alike exposed,
were suggestive of absolute happiness and luxury
when contrasted with the conditions under which was
sustained the miserable existence of the serf. His
habitation was shared by beasts of burden, the com-
396 History of the
panions of his daily and nightly toil. Composed of
unhewn logs or of sticks wattled with rushes, thatched
with straw and plastered with mud, its primitive and
defective construction afforded little security against
the vicissitudes of the climate or the inclemency of the
seasons. Through a hole in the centre of the roof the
smoke emerged and the storm descended; the walls
were blackened with soot; the earthen floor was cov-
ered with a trampled litter of hay, mingled with bones
and the decaying fragments of many a repast which
the occupants had never taken the trouble to remove.
Of furniture there was almost none; a bench, per-
haps, and a table of unsmoothed planks answered the
simple requirements of the hapless villain. He re-
posed upon a heap of straw with a block of wood for
a pillow; the few culinary utensils he possessed were
of the rudest description, and had been fashioned by
the hand of the owner. No provision was made for
the decencies of life or the safeguards of virtue, which
were indeed unknown ; the family occupied a common
apartment, and often a single bed, while the grunting
of swine and the lowing of oxen, which animals ranged
at will through the dwelling, were sounds too familiar
to disturb the slumbers of the drowsy household. The
accumulated filth of years, combined with indescriba-
ble personal neglect and revolting customs, attracted
and multiplied swarming multitudes of every species
of vermin. The garments of the peasant, usually of
skins, descended uncleansed and unchanged from
father to son through many generations, bearing in
their contaminated folds the germs of pestilence and
death. Where the circumstances of the serf were not
sufficiently prosperous to afford even this protection
against the weather, his shivering limbs were wrapped
with ropes of straw. His head was uncovered, often
even in the depth of winter. The most obvious pre-
cautions of hygiene were neglected ; the simplest pre-
Moorish Empire in Europe 397
cepts of medical science had not yet penetrated to the
isolated communities of Western Europe or were
sedulously discountenanced by the interests of super-
stition ; and the plague, assisted by favorable climatic
conditions, as well as by the physical debasement and
the fears of the people, at each visitation numbered
its victims by myriads. With game in every grove and
fish in every stream, the famishing peasant was often
reduced to appease his hunger with unwholesome roots
and bark when the meal of chestnuts and acorns, his
most luxurious fare, was wanting. The severity of
the forest laws visited upon the poacher, even when
impelled by the pangs of starvation to trespass on the
seignioral demesnes, the most barbarous of punish-
ments. Around the monastery and the castle were
visible the signs of unskilled and reluctant cultivation ;
but not far away was a wilderness diversified with vast
forests, majestic rivers, and pestilential marshes. In-
tercommunication was irregular and limited to popu-
lous districts; many villages of no inconsiderable
dimensions were as completely separated from the out-
side world as if they stood on islands in the midst of
the ocean. Barter of commodities necessarily prevailed
in the almost entire absence of money; there was no
opportunity for the establishment of trade ; no incite-
ment to agricultural industry ; no work for the artisan.
The accumulation of property was effectually discour-
aged through the incapacity of the laborer to retain
or enjoy it when his hopes were constantly frustrated
by the insinuating artifices of the priest or the sig-
nificant threats of the noble. The extortions of the
inexorable tax-receiver, the inhumanity of licensed
hirelings, the enormities countenanced by baronial
tyranny, carried dismay into every hamlet. Epidemics
appeared without warning, and spread with mysteri-
ous and appalling rapidity ; the death-rate was fright-
ful; fatal symptoms developed almost with the first
398 History of the
attack, while in the ignorance of rational treatment
the application of relics and the mummeries of the
clergy proved signally ineffectual to avert what was
considered the vengeance of Heaven.
Confined in the lazar-house with hundreds of his
fellow-sufferers or banished to a lonely hut, far from
the haunts of men, the hapless leper dragged out his
melancholy existence in pain, in disgrace, in penury.
The law declared him civilly dead. With a ceremony
not less solemn than that performed over the remains
of a Christian actually deceased, the priest announced
his final separation from the society of mankind. His
body was enveloped in a shroud. He was laid upon
a bier. With the repetition of the legal formula which
consigned him to a life of odium and sorrow, a few
garments and necessary utensils were placed in his
hands. He was forbidden to eat with any person but
a leper; to wash his hands in running water; to give
away any object he had touched; to frequent places
of public resort ; even to enter the house of a relative
or a friend. With his shoulders covered with a tat-
tered scarlet mantle, a danger-signal, visible from
afar, hideous to the sight, emaciated to a skeleton,
and horribly scarred with disease, he crouched by the
wayside, sounding his rattle to arouse the compassion
and solicit the charity of the passer-by. Deprived of
civil rights and debarred from invoking the protection
of the law, he was, however, not wholly an outcast,
for with the exclusion from these privileges he became
the ward and vassal of the Church. So loathed and
dreaded was his malady often considered a divine
penalty for crime or sacrilege that no physician could
be induced to employ the scanty medical science of the
day for the alleviation of his sufferings ; and, even if
wealthy, he was abandoned to the suspicious ministra-
tions of wizards, barbers, and charlatans. Shunned
as accursed and repulsive during his lifetime, when
Moorish Empire in Europe 399
dead he was unceremoniously buried under the floor of
his hovel.
The segregation of lepers in the Middle Ages, as a
measure of public safety, was productive of singular
results in subsequent times. The disease, which at dif-
ferent periods seems to have been both infectious and
contagious, gradually disappeared. But the preju-
dice attaching to the posterity of the unfortunate out-
casts, formerly cut off from all intercourse with their
fellow-men, and who formed isolated communities,
still remained. The origin of that prejudice was
completely forgotten. The people in their ignorance
attributed the cause of their enmity to religious dif-
ferences. It was believed that the objects of their
unreasoning aversion were variously sprung from the
Goths, the Jews, the Saracens, the Albigenses. Mod-
ern research, however, has definitely established the
fact that the former pariahs of Southwestern Europe,
known in Languedoc and Gascony as Capots and
Gahets, in Brittany as Cacous, in the Pyrenees as
Cagots, in Spain as Agotes, were the descendants of
mediaeval lepers. A century has hardly elapsed since
these victims of popular antipathy have been divested
of that suspicion of uncleanness which was their an-
cient and unhappy heritage.
In the disorganized state of society which every-
where prevailed, facilities for the profitable and
friendly intercourse which promote the intelligence
and contribute to the temporal welfare of nations
could not exist. Even in provinces of the same coun-
try the professional robber and the bandit noble united
to imperil the life and seize the merchandise of the
trader. The courses of the old Roman highways, un-
used for centuries, concealed by rubbish and sometimes
overgrown with forests, had been utterly lost. There
was no provision made by the state for the protection
of commerce, and the universal insecurity discouraged
400 History of the
the schemes of private enterprise. The mortality re-
sulting from habitual violation of the most obvious
sanitary laws, from the use of insufficient and innu-
tritions food, from the hardships of incessant toil, and
from daily exposure to the elements, effectually re-
tarded the increase of population. That district was
fortunate indeed where even a uniform standard was
preserved. In many localities in kingdoms where
modern civilization has achieved her most signal
triumphs, a solitary shepherd pasturing his flock, or
a tottering hovel standing in the centre of a dismal
waste, alone proclaimed the presence of man.
The condition of the towns, where an improvement
in the manner of living might reasonably have been
expected, was in but few respects superior to that of
the scattered villages and isolated settlements of the
country. Even the main thoroughfares were narrow,
tortuous, and dirty. Without drainage or adequate
municipal supervision, they were receptacles for the
refuse of the household and the offensive carcasses of
dead and decaying animals. Even as late as the reign
of Francis I., the hogs belonging to the monks of St.
Anthony, who asserted and exercised special privi-
leges for the animals sacred to their patron, wandered
at will through the fashionable quarters of the metro-
politan city of Paris. From the overhanging bal-
conies filthy slops were dashed, without warning, upon
the head of the unwary passer-by. By night, daring
criminals, secure from the risk of punishment, plied
their lawless calling in these dismal and unlighted
lanes. He who ventured, unattended, to thread the
maze of alleys that wound through even the most fre-
quented quarters of great cities did so at peril of his
life. Each corner formed a convenient lair for the
lurking assassin. The projecting gables of the houses
aided in obscuring the gloomy footways. As the citi-
zen stood in constant fear of robbers, his dwelling was
Moorish Empire in Europe 401
always barred and silent. No light was visible any-
where save the flickering gleam in the lantern carried
by the trembling pedestrian, always on his ^uard
against some prowling assailant. Sometimes the mud
was so deep that locomotion was impossible for the
bearers of sedans, and women were carried from place
to place upon the backs of porters, as the narrow and
crooked streets precluded the use of vehicles drawn
by horses. In the habitations of even those considered
wealthy, a general air of discomfort was prevalent.
The apartments were dark, ill-ventilated, and unclean.
In the windows plates of horn and sheets of oiled
paper supplied the place of glass, which was practi-
cally unknown. No carpet covered the floors, which
were strewn with rushes. The foul surroundings as-
sisted materially in the propagation of fevers and the
spread of contagion. Provision for frequent ablu-
tion, so conducive to personal comfort as well as to
immunity from disease, was unheard of. In many of
the most populous capitals of Europe not a single
public bath could be found. The attire of the pros-
perous burgher and merchant was prescribed by sump-
tuary laws dictated by the jealous spirit of the aris-
tocracy, who could not tolerate a display of plebeian
splendor to which their own resources were unable to
attain. Their garments were limited to coarse woollen
stuff's, whose cut and fashion were regulated accord-
ing to the capricious decisions of the court. The use
of golden ornaments and jewels, so indispensable to
the gratification of female vanity, was prohibited to
the wives and daughters of their households, who were
also restricted to a sombre and unattractive garb. In
some instances this contemptible exercise of authority
went still further. It dictated the quantity and quality
of the food and the beverages to be consumed at the
table of the citizen, the description and the price of
the light which illumined his home and of the fuel
Vol. III. 26
402 History of the
that warmed him. If he had anything to sell, he was
paid by his superiors in the product of a debased coin-
age or with counterfeit money, whose manufacture
was everywhere prosecuted with comparative impu-
nity.
Drunkenness was so prevalent in England during
the reign of Edgar that restrictions were placed upon
the quantity of liquor to be consumed, the amount
allowed each guest being indicated by a mark on the
side of the cup or the drinking-horn. The observance
of these tyrannical and senseless ordinances was
secured by a harassing system of espionage and in-
formers, and their violation was punished by ruinous
fines and by condemnation to the stocks or the pillory.
The publication and enforcement of sumptuary laws
necessarily prevented the development of commerce,
already greatly retarded by the prevalent barbarism
and poverty of the age. Countries enjoying unlim-
ited natural resources of soil, minerals, timber, and
water-power, and whose noble streams only required a
portion of the energy and enterprise of man to bring
the fertile regions they traversed into intimate contact
with the humanizing influences and exquisite products
of the highest civilization, were as backward as the
savage kingdoms of central Africa are to-day.
A good index of the force of the bigoted prejudice
and public intolerance of the time is discernible in
the treatment universally received by the Jew. He
was the financier, the physician, the merchant, the
broker, the scholar of the Middle Ages. He man-
aged with eminent success the fiscal departments of
vast empires and kingdoms. In the great catastrophes
which overwhelmed entire nations, amidst the want
and despair occasioned by earthquakes, wars, famine,
pestilence, his shrewdness and his resources always
afforded relief to the suffering induced by the preva-
lent evils, although it must be confessed rarely without
Moorish Empire in Europe 403
exorbitant compensation. His medical talents and
surgical skill brought him under the ban of the clergy
as a dealer in magic; but neither the statutes of
Parliament nor the anathemas of priests could de-
prive him of the protection and friendship of or-
thodox monarchs, or of even the Sovereign Pontiff
himself. True to the adventurous and acquisitive
character of his race, he introduced the knowledge
and use of foreign commodities in lands rarely-
trodden by the foot of the stranger, defying the
storms of sea and ocean, braving alike the unprincipled
rapacity of the noble, the violence of the highwayman,
the perils of remote and unexplored solitudes. In
maritime cities he established depots for the importa-
tion and exchange of every description of merchan-
dise. His credit and his tact enabled him to negotiate
loans for improvident princes, which, more than
once, saved distressed nations from bankruptcy.
Amidst the multifarious variety of his occupations, he
found time for the recreation derived from the pur-
suits of literature. In this sphere, as in all others to
which he devoted his talents, he attained to the highest
distinction. In philosophy, in astronomy, in chemis-
try, in mathematics, his opinions were regarded by his
contemporaries with the reverence attaching to oracles.
His poetry and his eloquence delighted such courts as
those of Cordova and Bagdad ; his erudition instructed
and his genius illumined schools like those of Salerno,
Montpellier, and Narbonne.
How then did society reward such inestimable bene-
fits? Alas ! for the credit of humanity, it must be con-
fessed that the intolerance fostered by centuries of
hatred obliterated every generous impulse, every senti-
ment of gratitude. The remembrance of the decision
of the Sanhedrim, the story of the sacrifice on Cal-
vary, extinguished in the minds of the fanatical popu-
lace the sense of any subsequent obligation. The anni-
404 - History of the
versary of that tremendous event was the signal for
insult and outrage. The most heinous accusations,
many of them extravagant and improbable in their
very nature, were brought by popular clamor, insti-
gated by ecclesiastical malice, against the defenceless
Hebrew. His commercial relations with the East had
introduced the leprosy. The plague was caused by
poison which he had thrown into the wells. The meat
he sold was sometimes whispered to be human flesh;
and the milk he dealt in not yielded by the cow, but
dra^vn from the breasts of the females of his house-
hold. He kidnapped children, whose blood he made
use of in the concoction of magical potions. On Good
Friday, aided by his kinsmen, he re-enacted the
tragedy of Golgotha, the victim being a Christian
youth who played, perforce, the role of the Saviour,
and who, with unavailing struggles and lamentations,
endured the humiliation and agony of the Crucifixion.
Kings, merely by proclamation, appropriated the Jews
of their realms as the absolute property of the cro^vn.
Then, by virtue of this arbitrary proceeding, they con-
fiscated the possessions of these victims of royal ava-
rice, under pretence of fines or ransom. Under these
significant circumstances it requires no extraordinary
degree of discernment to perceive that the wealth of
the Jews was the principal cause of their persecution.
By their talents and industry they had reached the
highest posts in the learned professions ; had monopo-
lized the trade; had controlled, to a greater or less
extent, the policy of every government in Christen-
dom. Under Charlemagne and Louis le Debonnair
their condition was more prosperous than under suc-
ceeding monarchs for eight hundred years. In every
walk of life they received the consideration merited by
their commanding abilities. Their influence was un-
rivalled. They maintained royal state. Great conces-
sions were made to their convenience and religious
Moorish Empire in Europe 405
prejudices. Their prosperity excited the envy of the
rabble. Their influence with the monarch enraged the
courtiers. The clergy, whose profits were reduced by
their enterprise and whose monopolies they antago-
nized by their insinuating arts, regarded them with the
double hatred engendered by imperilled temporal in-
terests and ferocious bigotry. Among every class and
rank their superior intelligence was believed to be due
to sacrilegious bargains with the powers of darkness.
The prejudice attaching to their name and religion
always afforded a specious pretext for persecution.
In every Christian kingdom they were the objects
of popular execration. They were unceremoniously
robbed by the government. They were banished with-
out notice. Their debtors were encouraged to repudi-
ate contracts made with them. The officials of the In-
quisition took exquisite pleasure in burning Hebrews,
always selecting the most wealthy for its victims. Of
the one hundred and sixty thousand persons burnt or
disciplined during the twenty-eight years comprising
the administrations of Torquemada and Ximenes as
Inquisitors-General, the majority were of that unfor-
tunate race. The cause of a Jew was prejudged be-
fore every tribunal, and it was often difficult for him
to obtain a hearing, and still more to secure the protec-
tion to which he was legally entitled. Under such
intolerable oppression it is not strange that he should,
by the adoption of unprincipled methods and by the
exaction of enormous usury, have endeavored to com-
pensate himself, in some degree, for the degradation
and hardships he was compelled to undergo. This
course, however, only intensified the popular hatred
until the term Jew was considered the epitome of all
dishonor, deceit, and unprincipled villany. These dis-
creditable prejudices, dictated by general ignorance
and by the sacerdotal malice of the Middle Ages, are
still, it is well known, far from being eradicated even
406 History of the
by the superior understanding and liberal opinions of
the twentieth century.
The universal distress which afflicted the peasantry,
as well as the poorer classes of the cities, is revealed
by the inhumanity with which they were accustomed
to treat their offspring. Robbed and oppressed by
both priest and baron, and barely able to eke out a
miserable existence by themselves, they regarded the
birth of an infant as a domestic calamity. Parents
deliberately abandoned their children in unfrequented
places to perish by starvation or to be torn to pieces
by birds of prey. Many were drowned like puppies.
Some were buried alive. Others were deposited at
the doors of churches and convents, where they were
often killed by dogs. The extent of the evil, as well
as the prevalent immorality existing in a single coun-
try, may be inferred from the fact that the Hospital
of Santa Cruz, founded by Cardinal Mendoza of
Spain in the sixteenth century, received and sheltered
during twenty years more than thirteen thousand
foundlings.
The great epidemics that from time to time raged
throughout Europe afford glimpses of the life and
character of the people not readily obtained from
other sources. Medical science recognizes to-day that
the principal causes of such visitations are private
uncleanness and the accumulation of filth in public
places. During the Middle Ages, the regulations of
sanitary police were wholly unknown. On every side
heaps of garbage and putrefying offal met the eye
and offended the nostrils. The necessity for the thor-
ough ventilation and drainage of dwellings was unsus-
pected. The prejudice against bathing, which univer-
sally existed, was partly due to the example of the
clergy, who were not supposed to have time to spare
from their sacred duties to care for their persons, and
partly due to contempt for the Mohammedans, whose
Moorish Empire in Europe 407
lustrations were a peremptory religious duty. As
Christianity spread, the practice of ablution gradually
declined. The Roman thermae, one of the wonders of
the capital, were at first abandoned and afterwards
utilized as quarries for the palace and the cathedral.
A general idea prevailed that the ceremony of bap-
tism removed all necessity for the subsequent appli-
cation of water to the body. Filth became a test of
devotion, and, following the example of their spiritual
guides, the multitude came finally, by the natural law
of association, to regard the unsavory manifestations
of personal neglect as prima-facie evidence of Chris-
tian orthodoxy. Thus, sanctioned by public opinion
and confirmed by ecclesiastical authority, a stigma was
placed upon cleanliness, and a premium oiFered for
corporeal foulness and offensive surroundings. Those
who violated the established custom were in danger of
being denounced as heretics. It was one of the most
serious accusations against the Emperor Frederick II.
that he was addicted to the frequent use of the bath.
Among the upper classes of society, the unpleasant
consequences of untidy habits were in a measure neu-
tralized by the excessive use of strong perfumes, such
as musk, civet, and ambergris. Among the lower
orders many of the physical conditions of life were
indescribable. In the vicinity of towns, as well as of
isolated habitations, equal negligence of the laws of
health prevailed. From the moat, with its stagnant
waters reeking with the refuse of the castle, to the vast
marshes, with their exhalations poisoning the air
around the hut of the shepherd, the atmosphere was
charged with the miasma of death. When to the
effects of such surroundings were added the depress-
ing influences of contagion and terror, the results were
appalling. The plague of the sixth century, whose
course raged unchecked from the Bosphorus to the
Atlantic, desolated entire countries ; the Black Death
408 History of the
of the fourteenth carried off seventy-five million per-
sons, one-half the inliabitants of Christendom. So
favorable to the spread of the pestilence were the cli-
matic conditions of the country and the personal habits
of the people of England that the majority of them
perished in a few months by a single visitation of this
dreadful epidemic. It so diminished the population
that the pursuits of mechanical industry were seriously
and permanently affected. Wages became higher
than ever before, and legislation concerning the vexed
question of the mutual rights of employer and em-
ployed was inaugurated, a question which has not been
settled to the present day. The vicinity of the dying
and the dead carried with it almost certain infection.
Even the extraordinary brilliancy of the eyes of pa-
tients suffering from delirium was supposed, in con-
formity with the prevailing superstition, to convey a
malignant and fatal influence upon all within the
range of their glances. The air was so tainted that
domestic animals, cattle, horses, sheep, even the birds,
died by hundreds of strange and fatal distempers.
The mortality was so great in some districts that the
helpless convalescents were unable to perform the
burial rites for their friends and neighbors. Ships
encumbered with the corpses of their crews drifted
about in the ocean without sailor or helmsman. Men
became insane through fright, and thousands com-
mitted suicide. The wealthy flocked to the churches
and poured their gold upon the altars; but for once
ecclesiastical avarice was forgotten, and the timid
priests, through dread of the scourge, often refused
the proffered treasure. As a result of the universal
consternation inspired by the calamity, negligent and
hasty interment was, in many instances, responsible for
the rapid propagation of the pestilence. Multitudes
of corpses, covered only with a thin layer of earth,
were placed in shallow trenches. Others were cast into
Moorish Empire in Europe 409
the rivers, to be in time lodged against their banks,
fresh sources of contagion and death. Through all
these scenes of physical and mental agony no scientific
medical aid was available. The few skilled Jewish
practitioners, who, graduates of the schools of the
Moslem, had ventured into the dangerous precincts
of Christian courts, were looked upon with suspicion
as professors of sorcery and members of a proscribed
and accursed race. In the South of France it was un-
lawful to consult them or to receive their prescriptions.
No correct theories were entertained concerning the
cause and prevention of disease, even by the intelhgent
and educated. The malady was attributed to the active
intervention of the devil or his agents, and the sick
were bound and brought, dozens at a time, to the
Church as the most suitable place for exorcism, where,
in general, their sufferings were speedily terminated
by agony and neglect. There was no comfort for the
terrified but the whispers of the confessional ; no re-
source for the pest-stricken suiFerer but the Host and
the reliquary. Indeed, it was but natural that these
should be appealed to for succor, for it had long been
assiduously taught that Divine wrath was the imme-
diate cause of all physical misfortune. The pestilence
was now considered a tremendous judgment for the
derelictions of mankind. The ravings of insanity and
delirium were declared to be due to possession by
demons, only to be relieved by bell, book, and candle,
and all the manifold impostures of sacerdotal mum-
mery. During the continuance of the plague the
Church prospered amazingly, as she always does
prosper by the woes and the misery of mankind. Her
gains were far greater than during the Crusades. The
zeal of the devout, the superstitious fear and remorse
of the wicked, alike paid enormous tribute to her
rapacity. Valuable estates were devised by dying
penitents to her ministers. Sumptuous cathedrals
410 History of the
were raised and endowed by the grateful piety of
those who attributed their recovery to the intercession
of her saints. Monasteries and chapels were founded
by those whom her prayers were supposed to have
rescued from the very jaws of death. The portable
wealth of empires poured daily into her treasury. But
all these sacrifices, all this generosity, all this religious
display, afforded no perceptible relief. If they proved
anything, they demonstrated effectually the worthless-
ness of cure by the resorting to shrines and the appli-
cation of relics. The pestilence ceased its ravages on
account of the want of material, not because its prog-
ress was stayed by priestly intercession. But while its
violence abated and its characteristic symptoms dis-
appeared, its effects remained, and it bequeathed a
frightful legacy to posterity. Although respectable
medical authority has contended for a different origin
of the disease, there can be little doubt in the minds
of those who have thoroughly familiarized themselves
with the subject that syphilis is either the result of a
recrudescent form of leprosy or of a modified morbid
condition developed from the plague. Such is a por-
tion of the foul inheritance for which the twentieth
century is indebted to the ignorance, the filth, and the
superstition of the Middle Ages.
Wretched as was the physical condition of the peo-
ple of Europe, their moral state was even more de-
plorable. The revolting characteristics and manners
of the clergy have already been considered in these
pages. Under such instructors, whose admonitions
were so palpably at variance with their unholy lives,
it cannot be wondered at that society was permeated
with treachery and hypocrisy. It is one of the most
remarkable of mental phenomena that man should
earnestly solicit the intercession of the members of
a sacred profession with Heaven, while at the same
time he demonstrates unequivocally by his actions
Moorish Empire in Europe 411
that he has no respect for their calling and no faith
in their prayers. Such was largely the case of the
Roman Catholics of the Dark Ages. They lavished
their wealth with unstinted profusion upon the
Church. They greeted her ministers with servile
tokens of respect and homage. They sought her
advice in worldly affairs; they obeyed her oppressive
edicts; they voluntarily relinquished their natural
rights at her despotic bidding. But when opportu-
nity offered, the insincerity of these professions be-
came unmistakably evident. In the midst of the
apparent blind and devoted subserviency to the prin-
ciples of a debased religion, ancient Pagan ideas were
constantly manifesting themselves. The worship of
fairies, often scarcely concealed, was wide-spread
throughout the Christian world. The knight placed
far more confidence in his armor, consecrated by
heathen ceremonies, than in the reliquary that was
attached to his saddle-bow or the Agnus Dei sus-
pended about his neck. The anxious housewife on
the eve of a feast preferred to address her petitions
to some popular and beneficent Pagan spirit, accus-
tomed to good living and luxury, than to a female
saint with whom abstinence was a duty, and whose
life had been passed amidst the privations of the
convent or the hermitage.
The death of a pope was hailed with indecorous joy
in every quarter of Rome. The election of a new
pontiff was the signal for disorder, riot, massacre.
Yelling mobs filled the streets, singing impious and
obscene songs. The most indecent actions were per-
petrated in the face of open day. The papal palace
was repeatedly sacked and its precious contents de-
stroyed. The mansions of the cardinals and the
nobility were plundered. It was not safe for these
dignitaries to appear in public until the popular ex-
citement had subsided, and the death of the spiritual
sovereign of the Christian world was often concealed
412 HiSTOEY OF THE
until his successor had been chosen, in order to pre-
vent the scenes of anarchy certain to result if this
precaution was not taken. So far from conceding
divine attributes to the pontifical character, the
Roman populace habitually and openly derided its
pretensions to infallibility. It not infrequently in-
terfered with the freedom of the conclave and, in-
timidating the cardinals, dictated the selection of a
pope. If such was the disrespect manifested by the
inhabitants of the papal capital towards the head
of the Church, little courtesy could be expected by his
ecclesiastical subordinates anywhere. The veneration
they claimed by reason of their calling was oiFered
only by the more ignorant of the masculine sex and
by women. The latter, more weak and credulous in
their nature, were the bulwark of superstition, as in-
deed they have always been in every age. But with
the educated the case was far diiFerent. As has been
already remarked, the ecclesiastic was represented in
the most popular writings of the time as a foolish,
licentious, and degraded hypocrite. Public opinion
would not have tolerated this holding up the sacerdotal
profession to derision had there not been ample provo-
cation for such a course. There are good reasons for
believing that the awkward and disgraceful predica-
ments of profligate clerks described in the entertain-
ing pages of the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles, Boccaccio,
Poggio, the Queen of Navarre, and similar collections
were actual occurrences. It is indisputable that many
of these tales were obtained from the archives of re-
ligious houses and the humorous traditions of monastic
life. The existence of universal corruption among the
regular clergy indicated by these satirical authors re-
ceives a significant illustration from the fact that they
invariably include the nunnery and the brothel in the
same category, and indiscriminately designate the
heads of these establishments by the title of " abbess."
Moorish Empire in Europe 413
In the religious festivals and dramatic representa-
tions there also appeared conspicuous indications of
the prevalent irreverence and mockery of the age. The
most solemn and awful events of sacred history were
absurdly burlesqued amidst the jeers of a scoffing and
delighted mob. The grotesque features of these cere-
monies were a survival of the Roman Saturnalia not
yet extinct among the less enlightened peasantry of
Europe. The most holy mysteries of the Church were
parodied in obscene and sacrilegious scenic exhibitions.
The actors in these profane representations were
selected from the lower orders of the priesthood.
They assumed the characters of popes, cardinals,
bishops. Sometimes they were dressed in the vest-
ments and equipped with the insignia of their rank,
the tiara, the mitre, the crosier, the crucifix ; but often
they donned the party-colored attire of the profes-
sional fool and jester and carried his truncheon. The
mass was celebrated in due form, but accompanied
with a thousand extravagant and often indecent gest-
ures by these privileged buffoons. Men entirely nude
were conducted into the churches and deluged with
pailfuls of holy water. Old shoes burned in the cen-
sers filled the atmosphere with a sickening stench. A
repast was spread upon the altar, and all who desired
regaled themselves while the representative of the cele-
brant recited the impressive service of the Church.
In the mean time, the aisles were swarming with
maskers, whose coarse jests and lascivious contortions
evoked the applause and laughter of the audience.
Men gambled within the rail of the chancel. Every
excess was indulged in without check or remonstrance
during the continuance of these festivals. Debauch-
ery ran riot even in the most holy places. Priests,
stripped of their clerical vestments, danced half-naked
in the streets. The bells were removed from the
church-towers and concealed. During the Feast of
414 History of the
Asses, a donkey with his rider was conducted into the
choir, and the responses of the congregation were
made in imitation of the unmelodious voice of that
useful but proverbially stupid animal. In this in-
stance, sausages seasoned with garlic supplied the
place of frankincense. In the celebration of another
festival, a fox, dressed in the habiliments of the Pa-
pacy, was carried in state by an escort of mock car-
dinals. A quantity of poultry was distributed at in-
tervals in the streets through which this singular pro-
cession was to pass, and when the fox, dropping his
tiara and trailing his purple robes in the dust, occa-
sionally attempted to seize a hen, the delighted multi-
tude fairly rent the air with acclamations.
The dramas, known under the name of miracle and
moral plays, were often fully as depraved in tone and
as demoralizing in effect as the festivals. They owed
their origin to the lively imagination and love of spec-
tacular display characteristic of the Greeks of Con-
stantinople. In some instances, the actors repre-
sented Scriptural personages, in others the virtues and
vices of an allegory. The greatest incongruities of
locality, time, and character were introduced without
question or criticism. With the absurdities of the plot
were mingled impious sentiments and vulgar witti-
cisms. Notwithstanding the coarseness and profanity
of these dramas, their value in controlling the minds
of the impressionable populace was fully recognized
by the hierarchy. Generally enacted by members of
the priesthood, funds were appropriated from the
treasury of the Church for their celebration, and in-
dulgences granted to induce pilgrims to attend them.
The dramatic spectacles of the JMiddle Ages were,
however, not confined to representations of a nomi-
nally religious character. As early as the tenth cen-
tury, the plays of the nun Hrotswitha were enacted
in monasteries and convents for the amusement of
Moorish Empire in Europe 415
their inmates. These productions, imitations of the
comedies of Terrence, far surpassed the latter in free-
dom of language and action. Their coarseness is such
that they will not bear translation. The poems of the
same author, whose life was ostensibly devoted to pious
thoughts and communion with the saints, are even
more extraordinary. The sentiments they express and
the scenes they depict are the last which the reader
would ordinarily expect to find in compositions pro-
ceeding from such a source, and must have been sug-
gested by an extensive and varied experience.
These things, necessarily transitory in their char-
acter, have vanished with the gross ignorance and
credulity of mediaeval life. But more permanent
memorials, carved upon the corbels, capitals, and archi-
traves of edifices dedicated to divine worship, disclose
more forcibly, if possible, the want of reverence for
the rites of the Church, and the callous indifference
of the priesthood to what cannot be construed other-
wise than as a deliberate insult to religion. Monks,
priests, and bishops in full canonicals are depicted
with the attributes of cunning and filthy animals, such
as foxes, wolves, asses, and baboons. The hog is a
favorite subject, and seems to have been considered by
the mediaeval sculptor as possessing traits peculiarly
applicable to delineations of monastic life and char-
acter. These grotesque caricatures are frequently in-
terspersed with indescribable obscenities. A partial
explanation of their occurrence may be found in the
fact that they were sculptured by the monks them-
selves. The latter were the only class of their age
skilled in the practice of the mechanical arts. In their
order was centred the architectural as well as the liter-
ary knowledge of the time. They built and decorated
their own churches and abbeys. It is difficult to recon-
cile the spirit which could conceive and execute such
representations with that which could endure their
416 History of the
publicity, especially in the temples of God. For the
fact is only too well established that medigeval church-
men were far from being noted for toleration. Still,
the ruling sentiments of society in those days were far
diiFerent from those which obtain in ours. Its stand-
ard of morality was lower, but, at the same time, it
was evidently not disposed to conceal its favorite vices.
One thing, however, is certain, the failings of the
clergy were so open and notorious as to have become a
common jest, in whose merriment even the subjects
themselves were not ashamed to participate. It is not
a pleasing reflection upon the state of public morals
that its teachers had not only become insensible to
contempt for their violation of human and divine laws,
but encouraged and even rewarded the preservation
of their monstrous vices in imperishable materials for
the amazement and disgust of posterity.
With the fall of the Roman Empire the knowledge
of letters, in common with every other accomplish-
ment, had departed. From the time of Charlemagne,
no instruction was accessible save that transmitted
through the doubtful medium of ecclesiastical institu-
tions. That monarch had imparted a great impulse to
learning by the foundation of academies; by attract-
ing to his court the wisdom of other lands; by the
appointment of monastic chroniclers ; and by the en-
couragement of the Jews. As it was the policy of
the Church to keep the masses in ignorance, the
scanty and general information to be derived from
that source was restricted to members of the privileged
classes. The general and incredible abasement of the
people in those times may be inferred from the fact
that so late as 1590, when a mouse had devoured the
sacramental wafer in one of the churches of Italy,
it was gravely discussed by an ecclesiastical council
convoked for that purpose, in the presence of a pious
and wondering audience, whether the Holy Ghost
Moorish Empire in Europe 417
had entered the animal or not, and if the demands of
religion required that it should be killed or be made
an object of worship!
Many of the priesthood could neither read nor
write, and, having memorized the service by rote, cel-
ebrated mass like so many parrots, as ignorant of
what they were saying as their stohd congregations.
Bishops made their marks upon important documents
with their fingers dipped in sacramental wine. The
books used in the service were more esteemed for
their pecuniary value than on account of the precepts
they contained. Their golden, jewel-studded covers
often attracted the cupidity of the brethren, who de-
faced, pawned, or bodily abstracted the volumes as
opportunity offered or their carnal necessities re-
quired. Almost incredible difficulties attended the
dissemination of learning. In addition to the hostility,
negligence, and incapacity of the clergy, who were its
privileged custodians, great expense was involved in
the manufacture of books. Parchment was gener-
ally of wretched quality and commanded extravagant
prices. The supply to be obtained by the erasure of
ancient manuscripts was limited, and, in the universal
decline of the arts, the knowledge of its preparation
had been lost. The skins which were brought to the
monasteries were required to be cleaned and smoothed
by the writers themselves before they could be ren-
dered available. The time required for the completion
of a book was a serious impediment to the scholar. The
transcription and illumination of a manuscript often
consumed years of arduous labor. With the Hebrews,
the copying of the Scriptures was a proceeding not
less solemn than the invocation of the sacred name
of Jehovah. The materials were prepared, with every
precaution, by the orthodox of the Jewish faith. The
most dextrous and pious calligraphists were employed.
Every other occupation was abandoned until this holy
Vol. III. 27
418 History of the
task whose performance was considered as not less
important than the celebration of the rites of the syna-
gogue had been completed.
As a rule, the productions of the scribe and the
illuminator were considered too valuable to be used
for any other than religious purposes. The donation
was accompanied with the ceremony of music and
prayer as the missal, often enclosed in an exquisite
golden casket, was deposited upon the altar.
It was only through political or pecuniary necessity,
or to obtain the favor of royalty, that these specimens
of art were allowed, even temporarily, to leave the
hands of their owners. In 1190 the Bishop of Ely
pawned with the Jews of Cambridge thirteen volumes,
to aid in obtaining the ransom of Richard Cceur de
Lion. To secure the loan of a single missal, a king
of France was compelled to give a bond, with his
nobles as sureties, and to deposit with the cathedral
chapter a quantity of plate of enormous value. One
of the kings of Northumberland gave a productive
estate for a copy of the Gospels. The Elector of
Bavaria offered a city in exchange for a manuscript,
and was refused. The illuminated romance of chiv-
alry, worth more than its weight in gold, was the most
highly prized possession of the opulent baron. So
valuable, in fact, were these treasures that those des-
tined for public inspection were fastened to the walls
with massive chains, and guardians were appointed to
turn over the leaves. Peter de Nemours, Bishop of
Paris, on his departure for the Crusade, presented to
the Abbey of St. Victor " his great library, consisting
of eighteen volumes;" a gift at that time worth a
prince's ransom. It will be seen from these examples
that during the Middle Ages books were not always at
the command of the greatest princes, and a collection
of a few hundred volumes was a marvel; that of
Queen Isabella contained two hundred and one, of
Moorish Empire in Europe 419
which sixty-seven were treatises on theology. Other
circumstances contributed to their scarcity. Written
usually in a learned language, it required a special
education to read them, to say nothing of their com-
position. The expensiveness of writing materials pre-
vented many from acquiring familiarity with the use
of the pen. The dimensions of leaves designed for
various purposes were established by law, but the
original sizes into which a sheepskin could be folded
have been preserved in the quartos, octavos, and duo-
decimos of the modern bookseller. As a menace to
the irreverent and the dishonest, the author frequently
appended to his manuscript a malediction on whomso-
ever should steal or mutilate the product of his indus-
try. The donor also added his imprecations upon the
head of the borrower when the book was presented
to a church or monastery. As the modern languages
of Europe were not formed, communication by other
than oral means was not possible among the unedu-
cated; and the art of writing was in some localities
entirely lost. With the great mass of the people the
word " library" was understood to mean the Holy
Scriptures ; they were ignorant of the existence of any
other books. The immense advantages accruing to the
clergy from the habitual use of an idiom unfamiliar
to the vulgar, as well as from the monopoly of the
simplest rudiments of knowledge, were not lost upon
these shrewd observers of human nature. The church
became the point whence royal edicts were promul-
gated and where commercial bargains were concluded.
Proclamations were issued at its doors. Contracts
were entered into before its altar. Oaths were taken
upon the Scriptures and the crucifix. The Host was
used in the detection of criminals and in the solemni-
zation of treaties. Land was conveyed by the mere
transfer of a twig or a clod of earth in the presence
of clerical witnesses. The cross still traced upon legal
420 History of the
documents by the hands of the illiterate, in lieu of
a signature, is a suggestive reminiscence of an age
when the potency of ecclesiastical influence was recog-
nized in every important transaction of life.
The persecution of learning was systematized and
maintained, first, by the creation of theological odium,
and subsequently by the institution of such tribunals
as the Holy Office ; not through a desire to preserve a
becoming reverence for religious worship, but from a
consciousness of the inability of the existing system to
withstand the examination of reason. Heresy was a
convenient and ever available pretext for crushing
that independence of thought which threatened the
integrity of doctrine or the permanence of sacerdotal
supremacy. The Inquisition was, when its real object
is considered, as has already been stated, a temporal
rather than an ecclesiastical device. Its unspeakable
atrocities and their effects are too well known to
require description. In refutation of its claim as a
means of moral purification may be introduced the in-
disputable fact that during the period of its greatest
power the worst atheists, blasphemers, and criminals
in Europe were to be found masquerading in the cowl
and the surplice. The outrages it committed on
humanity must be regarded as the legitimate results
of the papal system, which, inheriting to a great ex-
tent the organization, the prestige, and the traditions
of imperial authority, encouraged, by immunity pur-
chased with corruption and by the profligate example
of the Holy See, the neglect of every duty and the
commission of every crime.
The exercise of the faculties of the human mind in
the Dark Ages, when they were permitted to develop
and be employed for the benefit of the Church, their
only profitable patron, are eminently suggestive of
the capacity which it possessed when afl"orded encour-
agement. The cathedrals, the carvings, and the mis-
Moorish Empire in Europe 421
sals, which, in their respective departments of art, far
surpass the eiforts of modern times, are appropriate
examples of the scope and fertility of mediaeval
genius.
I have now endeavored to depict the general and
more striking features which distinguished society
during the Middle Ages coincident with the period
of the Hispano-Arab domination. The description,
from the limited space allotted to the subject, is neces-
sarily imperfect. Volumes might still be composed on
the events and customs of that dismal period whose
most prominent characteristic is the intellectual degra-
dation of mankind. The reader cannot have failed
to remark, in every instance whether merely the
trifling incidents of private life were affected or
whether the interests of extensive kingdoms were in-
volved the incessant interference as well as the un-
questioned predominance of the ecclesiastical power.
He cannot but respect, if he is unable to admire, the
commanding genius of an organization which could
appropriate and utilize with success the profound
policy, the consummate skill, the incomparable talents
for administration, the heartless selfishness, of its
political exemplar and religious prototype, the Roman
Empire. He may turn with disgust from its crimes
and its horrors ; from papal grandeur built upon for-
gery and maintained by fraud and torture ; from the
shamelessness of monastic life ; from the duplicity of
a system which could avail itself of the uncertain
caprices and hideous brutality of barbarian kings;
from the repulsive chronicles of famous churchmen,
with their long catalogue of appalling cruelties, their
obscene and portentous legends. But while disap-
proving of its methods, he must admit its eminent
adaptability to secure the end at which it aimed, and
acknowledge that since the institution of society no
government has ever exercised such a powerful influ-
422 History of the
ence over the bodies and minds of men as the Papacy.
From that influence no potentate, however great, was
free. The reputation of many a mediseval monarch
and statesman with posterity is based, in reahty, not
upon talents and merit, but upon the standing and
relations he maintained during his lifetime with the
sacerdotal order.
In the universal ignorance of mankind, the familiar
phenomena of nature contributed to the ascendency
of unprincipled charlatans, who based their hopes of
success and its necessary incidents, wealth, power, and
glory, on the invention and sedulous propagation of
falsehood. The personification of everything material
and immaterial, the globe of the earth, the sparkling
orbs of the visible heavens, the sudden and often un-
expected effects of the action of the imponderable
agents, the most ordinary operation of nature's laws,
were classed as supernatural manifestations, were
engrafted upon religion and received the obsequious
homage of fear and superstition. The wily ecclesi-
astic never forgot that
" Das Wunder ist des Glaubens liebstes Kind."
Gnomes, witches, goblins, those imaginary denizens
of the spiritual world whose weird and mischievous
antics were so well authenticated as to strike the simple
masses with terror and to cause even the learned to
shudder when their sins had not been removed by the
godly solace of confession and absolution, were en-
hsted as the allies of the politic Church. By the aid
of such auxiliaries and the ability to profit by every
phase of human weakness and every incitement to
human ambition, she has maintained her authority even
under the most discouraging circumstances until her
achievements in defiance of law and progress, arduous
as they seem, are even less remarkable than the appar-
ently eternal duration of her empire.
Moorish Empire in Europe 423
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE HISPANO-ARAB AGE OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
760-1450
Intellectual Stagnation of Europe during the Period of Moslem
Greatness High Rank of Scholars in Spain Attainments
of the Khalifs Character of Arab Literature Progress of
Science The Alexandrian Museum Its Wonderful Dis-
coveries Its Contributions to Learning Its Influence on
the Career of the Mohammedans The Arabic Language
Poetry of the Arabs Its General Characteristics The-
ology and Jurisprudence History Geography Philoso-
phy Libraries Rationalism Averroes Mathematics
Astronomy Al-Hazen Gerbert Botany Al-
chemy Chemistry Pharmacy Albertus Magnus, Robert
Grossetete, and Roger Bacon Medicine and Surgery
Ignorance of their Theories and Scientific Application in
Mediseval Europe Prevalence of Imposture Fatality of
Epidemics Great Advance of the Arabs in Medical Knowl-
edge Hospitals Treatment of Various Diseases The
Famous Moslem Practitioners Contrast between the Chris-
tian and the Mohammedan Systems Enduring Effects of
Arab Science Its Example and Benefits the Creative In-
fluence of Modern Civilization.
While the Christian world was enveloped in dark-
ness, and all learning save that of worthless meta-
physics and polemic theology had been banished from
the minds of men; while England was distracted by
Danish and Norman invasion, and barbarous monks
defied the authority of her kings in the very presence
of the throne ; while Charlemagne was desolating the
provinces of Germany by sweeping and merciless pro-
scription ; while ecumenical councils were proclaiming
the virtues of celibacy and the sanctity of images;
while the populace of Rome was amused by the scan-
424 History of the
dal of a female pope; during this period of intel-
lectual stagnation the Moorish princes of Spain and
Sicily, alone among the sovereigns of the West, kept
alive the sacred fires of art, science, and philosophy.
The thirst of empire, stimulated by the fervor of
religious enthusiasm, had subjected to the Moslem
sceptre a territory exceeding in extent and opulence
the vast and fertile area which, in its most prosperous
age, acknowledged the authority of the Ceesars. The
Arab capitals of Cordova, Cairo, Damascus, and Bag-
dad did not yield in magnificence of architecture, in
pomp of ceremonial, in the skilful adaptation of the
mechanical arts, in the accumulation of prodigious
wealth, in the opportunities for luxurious indulgence,
to the traditional precedence of imperial Rome. In
scientific attainments no comparison existed between
the vague and unprofitable speculations derived from
the schools of Greek and Latin philosophy and the
results obtained from the practical application of
principles conducive to the development of the human
reason and the promotion of the welfare of mankind.
In the intellectual as well as in the physical world
the success of the Arabs was unprecedented. During
the most splendid period of the Spanish-Mohamme-
dan empire, ignorance was accounted so disgraceful
that men who had not enjoyed opportunities of edu-
cation in early life concealed the fact as far as pos-
sible, just as they would have hidden the commission
of a crime. On the other hand, the learned trusted
by the sovereign, the oracles of the schools, the de-
positaries of influence and power never relaxed their
efforts for the development of their talents and the
increase of their knowledge ; and such was their ardor
and their perseverance, that they gave rise to the
popular proverb, " There are two creatures that are
insatiable, the man of money and the man of sci-
ence." The thorough instruction imparted by the
Moorish Empire in Europe 425
Hispano-Arab institutions of learning was highly
appreciated by foreign nations, and students went
from the most bigoted communities of Europe to enter
the Universities of Cordova and Seville. In every
branch of polite literature the indefatigable Moslem
manifested his genius and his diligence. His versatile
talents and his prolixity are at once the wonder and
the despair of the most patient and studious reader.
One remarkable personage, Ibn-al-Khatib, of Cor-
dova, who died in the tenth century, is credited with
nearly eleven hundred works on metaphysics, history,
and medicine. Ibn-Hasen composed four hundred
and fifty books on philosophy and jurisprudence.
Another writer left behind him eighty thousand pages
of closely written manuscript. It was no unusual cir-
cumstance for a dictionary or an encyclopaedia to
number fifty volumes. Commentaries on theology,
religious tradition, and law were almost infinite in the
extent and diversity of their topics. The historical
productions of the Spanish Arabs were probably the
most minute and voluminous ever published by any
people, and their scrupulous fidelity to truth has been
repeatedly established by the comparison of their de-
scriptions with the architectural monuments which
have descended to us, and by the corroborative evi-
dence of distant and often hostile writers. The
authors are usually deficient, however, in the applica-
tion, and often even in the knowledge, of the canons
of historical criticism; their love of the marvellous
occasionally interferes with their judgment, and their
descriptions, overloaded with florid rhetoric, belong
rather to the province of the orator than to that of the
accurate and discriminating historian. More than a
thousand chroniclers have illustrated the annals of
Moorish Spain. Their style, at once turgid and ob-
scure, often renders their meaning unintelligible, while
their text is overburdened with puerile anecdotes,
426 History of the
Koranic allusions, and perplexing Oriental metaphors.
Generations passed in another land, under conditions
of extraordinary political and industrial activity,
seemed powerless to eradicate or even to substan-
tially modify the mental characteristics of a race bred
amidst the solitude and dominated by the prejudices
and the superstitions of the Asiatic Desert. The stub-
born persistence of these traits is one of the most
singular phases of its life and history. Its polity and
its religious belief were foreign to, and irreconcilable
with, those that prevailed elsewhere in Europe. Its
customs, its language, its literature were all exotic. In
works of imagination, the elegant fictions of the East,
fascinating to the highest degree, and better adapted
to the expanding intellect of man than the coarse
and barbaric tales of Gothic origin, soon supplanted
the latter, as the light and keen-edged scimetar had
already driven out the clumsy broadsword of the
followers of Roderick. The practical methods of
thought founded upon the system of Aristotle every-
where obtained precedence over the unsubstantial and
visionary theories of the Platonic school. In pubhc
assemblies, where men and women alike competed for
the prize of literary superiority; in social intercourse,
where the fair sex were accorded far more liberty than
had ever been vouchsafed to the matrons and virgins
of antiquity, or than is now enjoyed in the harems of
the Orient, were developed and practised those ameni-
ties and graces which, fostered by songs of love and
gallantry, eventually, through the agency of bard and
minstrel, were distributed far and wide throughout the
continent of Europe. The desire for learning and the
appreciation of its advantages were so universal as to
be considered national characteristics. The Khali f was
the discriminating and generous patron of genius.
His favorite ministers were those whose productions
had raised them to deserved eminence in the world of
Moorish Empire in Europe 427
letters. In the Moslem system, a competent acquaint-
ance with the principles of jurisprudence was an essen-
tial requisite of every finished education. The won-
derful grasp of the Arab mind, which seemed to adapt
itself with equal facility to the most opposite condi-
tions, was especially fitted for the exacting require-
ments of diplomacy, a calling for which proficiency
in learning has, in later times, come to be regarded
rather as a disqualification than an advantage. The
greatest scholars, therefore, discharged the most im-
portant employments, and stood highest in the pre-
carious favor of the Moslem princes of Europe.
Their literary productions were recompensed with
even greater munificence than their services to the
state. They almost constituted a caste, so marked
were their pride and exclusiveness. Untold wealth
was lavished upon them. They took precedence of
nobles who traced their ancestry to a period lost in
the mazes of Arabic tradition. Their daughters, occu-
pants of the imperial harems, not infrequently became
the mothers of sovereigns. Their ostentatious mag-
nificence moved the envy of the most opulent subjects
of the empire. Their residences were not inferior in
extent and splendor to the habitations of royalty.
Great retinues of slaves attended their progress
through the streets. Soldiers in uniforms of silk and
gold guarded their palaces, preceded their march, and
protected their persons from the eiFects of popular
violence. The most lovely women to be procured in
the slave-markets of Europe and Asia filled their
seraglios.
The poet, the astronomer, and the historian, raised
to posts of high political responsibility, enjoyed the
confidence and the intimate familiarity of the mon-
arch in whose presence the most distinguished soldiers
trembled. Such was the grateful tribute paid by im-
perial power to intellectual pre-eminence. That this
428 History of the
extraordinary favor should not be abused could
scarcely have been expected from even the strongest
understandings when subjected to the temptations of
flattery and ambition. The lessons of philosophy were
insuflicient to correct the ignoble vices inseparably
incident to human nature, and which, in all ages, have
exercised despotic influence over the mind of man.
The insolence and rapacity of these ministers rendered
them ofl'ensive to the people ; their dangerous aspira-
tions eventually excited the fears of the sovereign.
No class of men was so universally detested. The
ancient chronicles are filled with accounts of their
cruelty, their injustice, and their misfortunes. Some
were sacrificed to the jealousy of their master, others
fell victims to the unreasoning fury of the populace.
Few there were who retained, in the midst of great-
ness, those virtues and that modesty which should
always characterize the noble pursuit of letters, suc-
cess in which had raised these statesmen to places of
such consideration and authority. While the Koran,
as interpreted by the more rigid Mussulman theolo-
gians, discourages scientific inquiry and the study of
natural philosophy, the Khalifs of Cordova, in more
than one instance, incurred the reproach of hetero-
doxy through the indulgence of investigations pro-
hibited by law to their subjects, and, thus encouraged,
the intelligent society of the capital did not disdain to
adopt the noble maxim of the head of a rival sect,
which declares that " the ink of the learned is as pre-
cious as the blood of the martyrs," while the consistent
believer kept constantly in remembrance the statement
of the Prophet that on the Day of Judgment a rigid
account will be required of the literary opportunities
improved or abused by the Faithful. Not only did
these great princes encourage literature by the be-
stowal of substantial honors and rewards, but they
themselves won in that field laurels more profitable and
Moorish Empire in Europe 429
enduring than any gained in the most successful cam-
paign against the infidel. Abd-al-Rahman I. was an
astronomer and a poet of unusual ability. Hischem
I. and Al-Hakem I. were among the best informed
scholars and critics of their time. The talents and
learning which rendered illustrious the life and char-
acter of Abd-al-Rahman II., his acquaintance with
the sciences of law and natural philosophy, his patron-
age of letters, caused him to be compared to Al-
Mamum, the most renowned of the Khalifs of Bag-
dad. The erudition and acquirements of Al-Hakem
II. were prodigious; the volumes of the immense
library of Cordova were enriched by notes and com-
ments in his own hand, and such was his zeal that his
eyesight was ultimately sacrified to the assiduity with
which he applied himself to every branch of knowl-
edge. The imperial dignity, great as it appeared at
its culmination, during his reign was the least im-
portant of his titles to eminence. In the golden age
of Arabic literature, he stood conspicuous amidst
thousands of distinguished writers, jurists, annalists,
biographers. A critical history of Andalusia which
he composed was famous for its accuracy and for the
vast stores of information it contained, and, widely
read, it long remained a monument to the remarkable
erudition and industry of its author. No scholar of
his time was his superior in depth and variety of intel-
lectual attainments. He was the master of many
languages and dialects. He wrote with equal fluency
and elegance on almost every subject. Nothing
pleased him so much as the perusal of a new and valu-
able work, and the accumulation of books was with
him a passion, which supplanted the duty of prosely-
tism and the lust of power. His library was so ex-
tensive that it overflowed the great building which had
been erected for its reception, and whose treasures, the
masterpieces of every nation Greek, Roman, Byzan-
430 History of the
tine, Egyptian, Persian, Hebrew, and Arabic were
the delight of the learned and the marvel of an illiter-
ate and superstitious age.
Abdallah attained distinction by the plaintive ele-
gies in which he celebrated the misfortunes of his
house; Suleyman was dreaded for the cutting verses
in which he satirized the treachery and hypocrisy of the
city and the court.
The spirit of literary taste and rivalry which had
inspired the accomplished society of the khalif ate was
not lost with the dismemberment of the empire. The
capital of each principality became a centre of culture,
of learning, of the arts. The rulers of these petty
states, whose population still retained, amidst the tur-
bulent scenes of civil discord and foreign encroach-
ment, no small measure of that intelligence and taste
which had so eminently distinguished their fathers,
vied with each other in their encouragement of science
and in their patronage of learned men. In this noble
emulation, as well as in their own scholastic acquire-
ments, the Moorish princes maintained the fame of
their ancestors and the traditions of the monarchy.
Every facility was afforded to the professors of
experimental science. Political honors, salaries,
pensions, attracted the scholars of distant countries.
Religious intolerance had no place in a society whose
cardinal principle was absolute liberty of thought, and
which had long been accustomed to consider the un-
trammelled exercise of reason as an inherent and in-
alienable right. Al-Moktadir, King of Saragossa,
was renowned for his erudition ; his knowledge of phi-
losophy, geometry, and astronomy was superior to
that of any of the wise men of his court. Al-Mod-
haffer. King of Badajoz, compiled a great encyclo-
paedia. The rulers of Almeria, Valencia, and Seville
were not less distinguished for their profound scholar-
ship and the protection they afforded to letters. The
Moorish Empire in Europe 431
monarchs of the Abbadide dynasty, and especially
Motamid II., were renowned for the harmony and
pathos of their verses. The Almohade sovereign,
Abd-al-Mumen, the nominal representative of the de-
stroying principle of fanaticism, was the admiring
patron of Ibn-Tofail, Ibn-Zohr, and Averroes, three
of the greatest writers who ever embellished by their
talents the literature of any age. The achievements
of the Alhamares of Granada in the world of art and
science, and the culture of their court the last refuge
of learning in mediseval Europe form the most at-
tractive episode in the annals of the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries.
Encouraged by the example and the patronage of
royalty, the mental development of the masses ad-
vanced with gigantic strides. The spirit of progress,
the incentives of a lofty ambition, animated all orders
and conditions of men. So universal was the thirst for
knowledge that even the blind, though hampered by
the unkindness of nature, were still able, in that age
of intellectual rivalry, to attain a high rank in the
scale of literary excellence. The rhyming dictionaries,
suggestive memorials of perverted and laborious in-
genuity; the impassioned poems, born of a tropical
chme and a sensual religion; the unprecedented and
rapid progress attained in the exact sciences; the
voluminous works on theology and history, and the
incredible erudition of their authors, the numerous
universities, the grand libraries, the competitive ex-
aminations, the public contests for literary prece-
dence and royal favor, attest a degree of enlighten-
ment little to be expected from a people sprung from
a barbarian and idolatrous ancestry, and are all the
more remarkable when contrasted with the degrada-
tion of contemporaneous Europe. Fanaticism and
prejudice closed to the inquisitive mind of the Mos-
lem some of the most important stores of classic
432 History of the
wisdom. For, while the natural philosophers and
historians of Athens were studied with the greatest
assiduity, Mohammedan piety rejected with abhor-
rence the sublime creations of Grecian poetry on
account of the gross fictions of its mythology, so re-
pugnant to the exalted ideas of the unity and perfec-
tion of God. Nor was the fiery and impassioned
nature of the Ai-ab capable of appreciating the dig- .
nity of heroic verse or the measured cadence and
majestic pomp of the Attic drama. It delighted
in stirring lyrics, satirical epigrams, amatory songs,
and pathetic elegiac lays. The marked influence ex-
erted by Arabic poetry on the civilization of Europe
has already been referred to in these pages. Its
matter is frequently overloaded with quaint con-
ceits and obscure allusions, its lucidity habitually
sacrificed to difficult feats of rhyme, its style disfig-
ured by extravagant metaphor and hyperbole. Love
of the beautiful, the marvellous, the supernatural were
the most prominent characteristics of Arabic writers,
and from the effects of these national propensities
even dignified works on scientific subjects were not
entirely free.
Learned and voluminous as were the purely literary
productions of the Hispano-Arab scholars, they were
of secondary importance when compared with the
practical achievements of the experimenters in the
world of science. The Saracens introduced into West-
ern Europe the Indian numerals, the tabulated ob-
servations of Babylon, and the discoveries of the
astronomers of the Alexandrian School. These wise
investigators examined the effect of gravity, and nar-
rowly missed ascertaining its principles; they con-
structed the pendulum clock and the balance; they
explained with perspicuity and exactness the origin of
many hitherto mysterious physical occurrences which
popular ignorance was accustomed to ascribe to super-
Moorish Empire in Europe 433
natural intervention rather than to the inexorable and
necessary operation of Nature's laws. They were the
first to demonstrate that the aerolite was a cosmic
fragment and not a missile of Divine wrath, and to
subject the substances of which it was composed to
chemical analysis. They formulated a table of specific
gravities, and the densities of bodies as laid down by
them is said by Tyndall not to vary essentially from
those accepted at the present day. They understood
the force of capillary attraction; they had approxi-
mated to the true height of the atmosphere, and had
noted its diminished weight at a distance from the
earth. As early as the tenth century they had formed
singularly correct ideas of the nature and causes of
many geological phenomena, such as the varying
erosion of strata by the action of the elements, the
presence of fossil remains on the summits of mountain
ranges and the different characteristics they exhibited
according as their origin was terrestrial or aquatic,
the elevation and depression of the surface of the
globe extending through inconceivably protracted
periods of time. Both chemistry and pharmacy were
pursued with remarkable success in the laboratories
of Moorish Spain. Medicine and surgery especially
engaged the attention of the ambitious student, who
found an enthusiastic and dangerous competitor for
distinction in the Hebrew, whose attainments and skill
not unfrequently placed him at the head of his pro-
fession. Dissection was not unknown, but reverence
for the dead preserved the human form from the
scalpel, and the anatomical researches of the Arab
surgeon were, in public at least, limited to animals of
the lower orders, multitudes of which were annually
sacrificed to the demands of science. In that noble
pursuit which has for its object the determination of
the motions of the celestial bodies, and the establish-
ment of their relations with each other and with the
Vol. III. 28
434 History of the
universe, the Hispano-Arab, as in the investigation
of other natural phenomena and in the solution of
abstruse philosophical problems, evinced a rare and
peculiar aptitude. In Moorish Spain, as in Chaldea,
Babylonia, and ancient Egypt where all astronomers
were priests the sanctuary of God was in part de-
voted to the study of the most sublime and wonderful
of His creations, the visible heavens. Gnomons, astro-
labes, dioptras, solstitial and equinoctial armils, were
placed upon the minarets of the most sacred temples.
The calculations of the observer were completed in the
academical institution which Moslem tradition and
practice caused to be attached to every building con-
secrated to the worship of Allah. No profession
ranked higher than that of the astronomer. The
sovereign loaded him with wealth and honors. In the
mosque he was received with a consideration not in-
ferior to that exacted by the most revered expounders
of the Mohammedan law. The populace, recognizing
in him a mysterious personage who in secret held com-
munion with other worlds, and too often confounding
him with the astrologer, gave way as he traversed the
streets, and in whispers spoke of him as the heir of
the wisdom of Solomon and as a mortal invested with
supernatural powers. The study of the heavens was
greatly promoted by the progress made in the science
of optics, and by the lucid explanation of illusions due
to atmospheric refraction. In this way the twinkling
of the stars, the apparent inequality of the horizontal
and vertical diameters of the planets, and the pro-
longation of the day after sunset were accounted for.
The invention of the telescope, the comparison of ob-
servations taken at widely distant stations in every
portion of the globe, the perfection of apparatus
which measures, weighs, and separates the component
elements of our atmosphere, the intelligent applica-
tion of the principles of physics, and the progressive
Moorish Empire in Europe 435
experience of nine hundred years have not affected
the definiteness and scientific accuracy of these con-
clusions.
The Spanish Moslems possessed both terrestrial and
celestial globes ; some were composed of brass, others
of massy silver. Their astronomical instruments were
beautifully made, and were graduated with the
greatest minuteness and precision. They had ten dif-
ferent kinds of quadrants, one of the most ingenious
and complete having been invented by Al-Zarkal, of
Toledo. They made use of clocks moved by water,
sand, and weights. The Arabic armillary spheres and
astrolabes preserved in the museums of Europe are
not surpassed by the most laborious efforts of modern
ingenuity in excellence of finish, and in the accuracy
of adjustment which implies the possession by the
artisan of a competent knowledge of the delicate
operations for which they were intended. It must not
be forgotten that these instruments, through whose
agency such wonderful results were achieved, will
compare favorably in elegance of construction with
the optical appliances of the best equipped observa-
tory of to-day.
To facilitate the investigations of the natural his-
torian, there were numerous zoological collections,
where the habits and characteristics of animals and
birds of every description could be observed and noted
for the present entertainment and future profit of
mankind. The royal botanical gardens contained an
endless variety of plants, both indigenous and exotic,
cultivated for their brilliant foliage, their grateful
fragrance, or their culinary and medicinal virtues.
The portentous development of Arabic intellectual
activity presents one of the most interesting and in-
structive examples of progress in the history of the
human mind. The Bedouin was a typical barbarian
and freebooter. He had no organized government,
436 History of the
and acknowledged no permanent authority. Without
a settled habitation, he despised all who pursued the
avocations of peace. He subsisted by pillage. His
religion was debased, cruel, idolatrous. With the ex-
ception of a few poems and some collections of tales
recounting the exploits of spirits and magicians, he
had nothing which could be dignified by the name of
literature. It is true that his language w^as one of the
most copious and flexible ever devised by man, but its
powers had never been tested and were practically un-
known. Even the courage of the Arab was not ex-
empt from suspicion, and he notoriously preferred the
advantages of ambuscade and surprise to the more
hazardous encounter of the open field. Almost his
sole, certainly his most conspicuous, virtue was hos-
pitality; but every consideration of friendship and
courtesy was forgotten as soon as the guest of the
night had quitted the precincts of his camp. The
prevalence of such conditions was, it must be admitted,
eminently unfavorable to the encouragement of
science and letters. The Arab conqueror, therefore,
in the prosecution of his literary career, owed nothing
to the usually powerful influence of national tradition
and example. His first important act was the de-
struction of the great library of Alexandria, his sec-
ond the spoliation of the monuments of the Pharaohs,
and the razing in order to obtain materials for his
own inferior constructions of the vast structures of
Greek and Roman antiquity which adorned that
famous capital. The thoroughness with which this
work was accomplished is demonstrated by the total
absence of any remains of those superb edifices which
were alike the pride of the Macedonian dynasty and
the boast of the age of Augustus and Hadrian. In
these acts of violence he only followed the inherent
destructive and predatory instincts of his race. Con-
tact with civilization and experience of its benefits,
Moorish Empire in Europe 437
however, soon wi'ought a change in his nature, a
change momentous in its results and which has no
parallel in the annals of human advancement. A cen-
tury after the Hegira, the descendant of the vagrant
Bedouin had attained a remarkable predominance in
every department of polite literature and scientific
knowledge. The impulse which wrought this mighty
intellectual transformation was imparted by Egypt,
and sprang from the historical and philosophical
reminiscences of the Alexandrian Museum. That re-
nowned institution was the unique and practical em-
bodiment of the passion for innovation, of the inven-
tive faculty, of the utilitarian spirit of the ancient
world. The doctrines of the higher antiquity were, as
is well known, largely theoretical and speculative.
The occasional appearance of men of genius like Hip-
pocrates and Aristotle only served to emphasize the
worthless character of the verbose and unprofitable
disquisitions of the schools of Greek philosophy. An-
terior to the fourth century before Christ, science owed
little to experiment, and all knowledge of any value
was empirical, or the result of purely accidental dis-
covery. No intelligent method of investigation
existed. No system which had for its object the
physical amelioration of humanity was deemed worthy
of attention. Such practical aims were trifles and
beneath the dignity of the wise man of that age. His
time was occupied in attempts to explain the nature
of the soul, to define the supreme good, to discover
the original essence of all created things, to demon-
strate the fancied harmony or dissonance of numbers.
In these absurd and fruitless occupations were wasted
intellectual abilities which, properly directed, might
have changed the aspect of nature and the condition
of society many centuries before modern inventive
genius was afforded an opportunity to exhibit its
marvellous powers. The shrewd and discerning sol-
438 History of the
dier, who, in the partition of empire, received as his
share the ancient dominion of Egypt, pursued a
diametrically opposite course in the policy he adopted
for the promotion of education and literature. He
united the culture of Macedon and the venerable tra-
ditions of the civilization of Persia with the experience
gained in many campaigns. His skeptical and arbi-
trary nature had little sympathy with the abject super-
stitions of his Egyptian subjects, and still less with
the despotic pretensions of their priesthood. His posi-
tion as ruler invested him with almost theocratical
authority. Scarcely was he seated upon the throne
before a radical change was resolved upon. The
genius of Ptolemy impelled him to attempt the modi-
fication of a system, sanctified by the practice of im-
memorial antiquity, in such a way that its outward
observance would not be repugnant to Greek intelli-
gence nor, by the violation of long-established preju-
dices, the stability of the newly constituted govern-
ment be endangered. To accomplish this end, the
worship of Serapis, the representative of Oriental
Pantheism, was introduced. This strange co-ordina-
tion of skepticism and idolatry was productive of
remarkable consequences. The Egyptians admitted
with enthusiasm a new god into their Pantheon. The
Ptolemaic dynasty was placed upon a firm and en-
during basis. In the magnificent temple where was
enshrined the image of the divinity, whose nominal
worship became of such importance to future civiliza-
tion, a grand institution of learning, totally unlike any
that had hitherto imparted instruction to man, was
established. Considerations of practical utility were
recognized as the sole and legitimate objects of its
foundation. Observation, experiment, debate, occu-
pied the leisure of its professors. The principles of
every known science whose application could enure to
the benefit of humanity medicine, surgery, astron-
Moorish Empire in Europe 439
omy, botany, physics were expounded in its halls.
Its library, subsequently destroyed by Amru, was the
greatest collection of books ever assembled in ancient
times. The fame of this great university soon spread
throughout the world. The number of students who
attended its lectures was incredible, not infrequently
reaching the enormous figure of thirteen thousand.
Their ambition was excited by the presence of the
sovereign, who often assisted in the experiments and
participated in the discussions.
The most prominent characteristic of this unique
educational institution was the catholic spirit which
it manifested towards the representatives of hostile
religious systems. Paganism was the recognized wor-
ship of the state. Its temples were numerous, its
ceremonials of sacrifice, divination, and augury were
performed with every accessory which could be af-
forded by unlimited wealth and prodigal munificence.
Yet the philosophical doctrines consecrated by a hoary
antiquity, and whose study has given rise to modern
agnosticism, were highly esteemed by the educated
classes of Egypt. It was to facilitate their introduc-
tion and acceptance that the scoffing Greeks had con-
sented with mock solemnity to prostrate themselves
before the altar of Serapis. The Jew, elsewhere
despised, readily found a respectful audience for his
monotheistic principles in the cosmopolitan society of
Alexandria, and, what was to him of far greater
moment, an opportunity to reap enormous profits
from the commercial advantages offered by the most
flourishing metropolis in the world. The fabled gene-
alogies of the Olympian deities were perused by
Jewish scholars with the same attention, if not with
the same respect, as the sacred legends of the Hebrew
race. The poems of Homer survived to delight pos-
terity through the editions of the Alexandrian Mu-
seum ; the Greek version of the Old Testament, known
440 History of the
as the Septuagint, published by Ptolemy Philadel-
phus, is still an authority with erudite theologians.
The spirit of inquiry was the dominating factor of
the Ptolemaic educational and philosophical systems.
Every hypothesis was rejected which could not stand
the test of practical experiment and demonstration.
No fact was considered too insignificant to be made
the subject of intelligent and exhaustive scrutiny.
The most abstruse problems of mathematical and
physical science, the most obscure and difficult ques-
tions concerning life its origin, its progress, its de-
cay were daily proposed for investigation and solu-
tion. The study of biology was one of the favorite
pursuits of the Alexandrian School, and it is not
impossible that topics which in recent years have so
deeply engaged the attention of the learned may have
been a subject of its profound and labored disquisi-
tions. Among these was, perhaps, the doctrine of the
Survival of the Fittest, which was not unfamiliar to
the Greeks, for its adoption is advocated by Plato in
his Republic, and its practical application was long a
leading principle of the Code of Lacedeemon. The
rational procedure employed in the study of medicine
and surgery was most favorable to the prosecution of
biological and physiological research. These sciences
were established upon the solid foundation of ana-
tomical demonstration. Autopsies and vivisections
were of daily occurrence. The active participation of
the kings in the operations of the clinic was due, no
doubt, to a desire to discover the secret of longevity,
and to justify by their sanction proceedings which the
prejudices of all the races of antiquity branded as
desecrations, actions abhorrent to reverence and de-
cency. Many notable discoveries were the result of
these enlightened methods. The offices of the inter-
nal organs, the ramifications of the venous system,
the form and convolutions of the brain, the phe-
Moorish Empire in Europe 441
nomena of respiration, digestion, and procreation,
were described in terms remarkable for correctness
and lucidity. It is a singular fact that in the midst
of all these anatomical investigations, many of which
were made upon the bodies of living animals, the
peculiar function of the arteries remained unknown.
The Alexandrian academicians supposed that they
were intended, in their normal condition, for the cir-
culation of air, and the vast period of thirteen cen-
turies was destined to elapse before the genius of
Harvey designated their true place in the human
economy. Herophilus explained the relations of the
brain and the nervous system. Erasistratus estab-
lished the distinction between the nerves of sensation
and motion. Alexandria abounded in specialists of
every kind, oculists, lithotomists, surgeons who
treated the diseases of women. The practice of medi-
cine was indirectly aided by a pursuit of a widely
divergent character, the cultivation of alchemy. As,
afterwards, under the Arabs, though not with such
marked results, this delusion, through the discoveries
induced by its study, proved of substantial service to
the intelligent physician. The department of the
Materia Medica was enriched by the importation of
drugs, and by the cultivation, in botanical gardens, of
foreign plants of great medicinal value. The school
of the Ptolemies was so famous that an attendance
upon its lectures, for however short a period, con-
ferred upon a practitioner great professional distinc-
tion. All of the celebrated medical men of antiquity,
with the single exception of Hippocrates, derived
their information, and were indebted for their success,
to the Alexandrian Museum. The extraordinary im-
pulse imparted to all branches of science by this splen-
did institution was not materially checked for cen-
turies. Before its foundation astronomy had long
been stationary, but with the faciHties it afforded a
442 History of the
gigantic advance was accomplished. The heavens
were mapped out and the constellations defined. The
stars were catalogued. The motions of the planets
were observed and compared, and the erroneous but
plausible system of eccentrics and epicycles invented
to account for the various phases they presented at
different times. The globular form of the earth was
demonstrated to the satisfaction of every intelligent
mind. The mechanism and cycles of eclipses, the pre-
cession of the equinoxes, the first and second inequali-
ties of the moon were explained. Estimates, more or
less approximated to correctness, were made of the
dimensions of the globe. Its surface was delineated,
its climates described, hypotheses to account for the
phenomena of its atmospheric changes advanced. Be-
sides those already referred to, all sciences of a prac-
tical tendency geometry, botany, natural history
were accorded a place in the course of the Museum;
even the ordinarily prohibited studies of astrology and
divination were not excluded. The names of such
mathematicians as Euclid, Archimedes, and Conon;
of such astronomers as Ptolemy and Hipparchus ; of
such geographers as Eratosthenes ; of such geometers
as Apollonius Pergasus ; of such ornithologists as Cal-
hmachus ; of such poets as Theocritus and Lycophron,
suggest the infinite obligations of posterity to the
noble institution established by Ptolemy Philadelphus
at the mouth of the Nile. From such a source was de-
rived the inspiration of Arab intellectual progress that
preserved and multiplied the precious literary treas-
ures in which were embodied the wisdom and the
achievements of antiquity. That inspiration was, how-
ever, destined to long remain dormant. A melancholy
period of eleven centuries of bigotry, ferocity, and
ignorance separates the Alexandrian Museum from
the University of Cordova.
To the unrivalled capabihties of the Arabic Ian-
Moorish Empire in Europe MS
guage was principally due the success of those who
employed it in all branches of literature. That rich
and sonorous idiom, isolated for centuries in the
Desert, had been formed and perfected without con-
tamination by extraneous influences. The peculiari-
ties of its alphabet, the infinite multitude of its terms,
the complexity of its conjugations, and the obscurity
of style which its writers regard as an excellence
worthy of assiduous cultivation, render its mastery by
one not native to the soil a task of almost insuperable
difficulty. The perfection of its grammar and the ele-
gance of its construction imply many centuries of use
and much literary practice for their establishment.
Each tribe had contributed to its copious vocabulary.
The number of synonyms by which objects of com-
mon occurrence or habitual usage are designated is
enormous. It contains eighty names for honey, two
hundred for a serpent, five hundred for a lion, one
thousand for a sword. It has exerted a marked and
permanent influence on the idioms and the literature
of Europe. Many of our most familiar English terms
have come down from it unaltered. French abounds
in words and expressions derived from the same
source. Spanish has been called a corrupt Arabic dia-
lect, and its richness in proverbs is due to the use of
that tongue in the Peninsula for nine hundred years.
The influence of the Sicilian Moslems on Italian is
very apparent. The Romance languages were largely
Arabic and Hebrew. This exuberance gave the poet
an immense advantage for the exercise of his talents.
The periodical literary assemblies, popular in Arabia,
had the efl'ect of improving the diction of the com-
petitors, and contributed greatly to the embellishment
of the language in which their poems were composed.
Facility of versification was so common that its pos-
session was not regarded as an accomplishment, ex-
cept where it produced results denoting unusual
444 History of the
ability. So many words have a similar termination in
Arabic, that in poems of considerable length the same
rhyme is alternately made use of from beginning to
end. Improvisatorial skill, so highly esteemed by the
Moors, was rather mechanical than the result of poetic
inspiration, and was immensely facilitated by the
abundance of terms at the command of the poet, whose
mind was trained to this mental exercise from child-
hood. Arabic versification readily adapts itself to
every quantity and variation of numbers required by
the practice of the art of poetical composition. It is
lavish in the use of metaphor, simile, antithesis. In
elegance of style, in brilliancy of expression, and in
fertility of fancy it presents examples not inferior to
the finest models of classic antiquity. Its charac-
teristic extravagance was the result of national taste,
a taste often perverted by a passion for the weird and
the supernatural. It delights in the representation of
abstractions as material beings; it bestows life and
speech upon the zephyr and the rose. The play of
words in which it abounds, the elaborate and quaint
conceits dependent upon pronunciation and upon
phrases susceptible of varied significance, while they
may obscure the diction, are never suffered to inter-
fere with the harmony. The vivacity of Arabic poetry
is one of its greatest charms. Its imagery is born of
the fiery imagination of the East; its proficiency in the
delineation of human passion is the fruit of centuries
of study, reflection, and jealous rivalry. Perfect
familiarity with the poems of the pre-Islamic Bed-
ouins, regarded as models by every generation of their
descendants, was considered an indispensable qualifi-
cation of every well-informed scholar. The Arabs
were so deeply impressed by the potent influence of
poetical genius that they assigned it a place among
the kabbala of magical science. Rhymes were intro-
duced into the most solemn discussions. An im-
Moorish Empire in Europe 445
promptu couplet opportunely spoken was often the
surest recommendation to the favor of a prince.
Poetic sentiment was such an essential characteristic
of the Arab intellect that even grave metaphysical
and historical treatises were designated by the most
romantic and whimsical titles.
Under the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain the wit
and skill of the successful poet claimed and enjoyed
the highest consideration. It has been aptly remarked
that poetry was the central point about which revolved
the intellectual life of the Andalusian Moors. Its in-
fluence upon the invaders was rather augmented than
diminished by the transplantation of the lyrics and
satires of the Desert to the soil of Southern Europe.
The universality of its cultivation and the honors and
emoluments which rewarded popularity expanded its
productions to an enormous volume. At the close of
the reign of Al-Hakem II., hundreds of manuscripts
were required for the catalogues of the poetical works
which crowded the shelves of the imperial libraries.
Verse was employed alike in the most momentous and
the most unimportant transactions of life, in the con-
gratulation of royalty, in the celebration of triumphs,
in the familiar intercourse of neighbors and friends,
in the frivolities and gossip of the seraglio. Its power
over the nature of the sensitive and impulsive Asiatic
cannot be measured. It diminished the agony of the
suiFering. It hastened the cure of the convalescent.
Its voice brought temporary oblivion to the dungeon
of the captive, its pictures of paradise lighted the dark
pathway to the grave. Rhyming prose was used in
private correspondence by all persons who laid claim
to good breeding. The Hispano-Arab histories are
filled with verses. They were frequently employed to
relieve the severity of scientific works, whose authors
were equally celebrated as philosophers and as poets.
Diplomatists inserted couplets and stanzas of more or
446 History of the
less merit and propriety into their state papers. The
passport given to the great scholar Ibn-Khaldun by
Mohammed V., King of Granada, was written in
rhyme.
In the classification of subjects, amatory poems, as
in all countries which acknowledge the power of the
lyric muse, claim precedence. It is obviously unfair
to judge Hispano-Arab poetry by the accepted rules
of modern criticism. The totally different conditions
of society, the education of an audience whose ideas of
literary excellence and correctness of expression were
strongly at variance with ours; the similes, now ob-
scure, but then full of meaning to the appreciative
listener, the idioms of a copious and extremely com-
plicated language but imperfectly understood by the
most accomplished scholars of our day, ignorance of
the physical environment of the writer, the distance
and vicissitudes of nine centuries, all contribute to ren-
der the formation of an accurate and impartial opinion
on the merits of Arab poetry an arduous, indeed an
almost hopeless, task.
The exalted position occupied by women under the
Arab domination in Spain gave them an influence,
and invested them with an importance, elsewhere un-
known in the Mohammedan world. This peculiar
social condition had a tendency to restrain the sensual
instincts of the bard, not yet entirely emancipated
from the coarse traditions of the Desert, while at the
same time it encouraged the cultivation of generous
and lofty sentiments. Admiration for the qualities
and accomplishments of the mind gradually sup-
planted the hyperbolical praise of corporeal perfec-
tion, which had hitherto predominated in the composi-
tions of the Arabian poet. The verses of the later era
of the khalifate allude to the perfections and graces
of the sex in terms of honor and veneration worthy of
the noblest paladin of chivalry. This admiration was
Moorish Empire in Europe 447
intensified by the eminent rank attained by many
women in the hterary profession. The female rela-
tives of khalifs and courtiers vied with each other in
the patronage and cultivation of letters. Ayesha, the
daughter of Prince Ahmed, excelled in rhyme and
oratory; her speeches aroused the tumultuous enthu-
siasm of the grave philosophers of Cordova; her
library was one of the finest and most complete in the
kingdom. Valada, a princess of the Almohades,
whose personal charms were not inferior to her talents,
was renowned for her knowledge of poetry and
rhetoric; her conversation was remarkable for its
depth and brilliancy; and, in the academical contests
of the capital which attracted the learned and the elo-
quent from every quarter of the Peninsula, she never
failed, whether in prose or in poetical composition, to
distance all competitors. Algasania and Safia, both
of Seville, were also distinguished for poetical and
oratorical genius ; the latter was unsurpassed for the
beauty and perfection of her calligraphy ; the splendid
illuminations of her manuscripts were the despair of
the most accomplished artists of the age. The literary
attainments of Miriam, the gifted daughter of Al-
Faisuli, were famous throughout the Peninsula; the
caustic wit and satire of her epigrams were said to
have been unrivalled. Umm-al-Saad was famous for
her familiarity with Moslem tradition. Labana, of
Cordova, was thoroughly versed in the exact sciences ;
her talents were equal to the solution of the most com-
plex geometrical and algebraic problems, and her vast
acquaintance with general literature obtained for her
the important employment of private secretary to the
Khalif Al-Hakem II. Inherited genius for poetical
composition, joined to constant familiarity with its
exercise, the tendency of early education, the influence
of intellectual association and example, the exalted
estimation in which proficiency in it was held, the ex-
448 History of the
traordinary facility afforded by the Arabic language
for the formation of rhyme, the inherent predilection
of the Asiatic for the employment of epigram, hyper-
bole, and allegory, called into existence a race of
juvenile poets whose number and abilities seem, in our
practical and unimaginative age, absolutely incredible.
In readiness of improvisation and quickness of repar-
tee these youthful rhymers displayed talents scarcely
to be expected of the most precocious intellect. Some
of the rhyming couplets composed by the children of
Moorish Spain which have descended to us, in pro-
priety of expression and elevation of feeling, in apt-
ness of comparison and in elegance of style, are not
inferior to the classic productions of educated ma-
turity.
Nor was the taste for and the delight in the arts
of extemporaneous composition confined to the emi-
nent and the learned ; all classes practised it, and it was
said that in the district of Silves alone there was hardly
a laborer to be encountered who could not improvise
creditable verses with facility. Volumes devoted to
the lives and productions of the princely and noble
poets of Andalusia were published; the palaces of
royalty and the mansions of the great fairly swarmed
with men of genius and poetasters, greedy of wealth
and ambitious of renown. The ancient and venerated
models of the Desert were never lost sight of in the
productions of Moslem Europe. Their striking pecu-
liarities, their lofty sentiments, their obscure meta-
phors, their extravagant panegyrics, their fantastic
imagery, were regarded as merits which, while they
might provoke, would ever defy imitation. In Anda-
lusia, however, the enlarged and humanizing ideas of
an advanced civilization, the steady march of material
and intellectual improvement, familiarity with the
literary masterpieces of antiquity and intercourse with
foreign nations, modified to some fextent the character
Moorish Empire in Europe 449
of the subjects treated by the Moorish poet, although
his style remained the same. Similes deduced from
the nomadic life of the Bedouin a life abandoned,
centuries before, for the monotonous occupations of
trade and agriculture still, in the midst of conditions
incompatible with the existence of predatory habits,
and side by side with the tribal hatred whose intensity
never diminished, maintained their universal ascend-
ency. Adroitness in the metrical art; the gift of
combining the infinite resources of the Arabic idiom
in complicated phrases and rhymes which nothing but
the enthusiasm and penetration of the illuminated
could understand and unravel; the introduction of
mysterious allegories, remote and obscure analogies,
bold and striking antitheses, these were the artificial
excellences of Hispano-Arab poetry. The perfect
comprehension of its productions implies an acquaint-
ance with the language practically unattainable by a
foreigner. The original form of Semitic poetry,
whether Hebrew or Arabic, was improvisatorial ; it
was inspired by passing events; it was gay or plain-
tive, didactic or satirical, but never solemn and
grandly impressive, like the sublime flights of the Gre-
cian muse. The Arab poet was deficient in the dra-
matic faculty. His versatility, elsewhere remarkable,
was unequal to the composition of an epic. His
ignorance was so profound that he could not even
give a correct definition of tragedy or comedy. To
the greatest scholars of Mohammedan Spain, men who
knew Aristotle by heart, and who were capable of the
instant solution of the most difficult equations of
Conon and Euclid, the works of Sophocles, ^Eschy-
lus, and Euripides were unknown. The mental con-
stitution of the Arab was thus not adapted to the crea-
tion of plays, a form of literature also discouraged by
his traditions; while his prejudices forbade the study
of the classic models which his religion stigmatized as
Vol. III. 29
450 History of the
idolatrous and indecent. Poetical narration was not
unfamiliar to him, but a lengthy historic or allegorical
composition, either in blank verse or rhyme, which
required sustained and protracted action, was both
repugnant to his taste and beyond his powers.
While love-ditties were the favorite productions of
the Hispano-Arab, the martial lyrics of battle and
triumph, sonnets depicting the pleasures of wine with
more than Roman freedom, and the mourful elegies
suggested by the events of a decadent empire, claimed
a large proportion of the efforts of his poetic genius.
Among the myriad poets whose compositions have
adorned the Moorish domination in Spain, it is difficult
to attempt to distinguish a few of superior merit ; yet
the following may be designated as masters in that art
whose possession was a passport alike to political emi-
nence and popular veneration. Ibn-Hasn, Ibn-Zeidun,
of Cordova, Abbas-Ibn-Ahnaf, were noted for the
sweetness and beauty of their amorous songs ; the mar-
tial airs of Ibn-Chafadscha, of Valencia, chanted by
the Moslems in the front of battle, assisted in turning
the tide of many a doubtful day; the bacchanalian
verses of Ibn-Said, of Seville, were the delight of the
corrupt and voluptuous Andalusian capital, and were
even sung by the children in the streets; the keen
satires of Ibn-Ammar of Silves the unhappy memo-
ries of whose early life, passed in mendicity, tinctured
his writings with bitterness even when raised by his
talents to the highest posts in the kingdom spared
neither prince nor courtier in their indiscriminate and
playful wit; Abul-Beka, of Ronda, Ibn-al-Lebburn,
of Murviedro, and Ibn-al-Khatib, of Granada, de-
scribed, in language of inexpressible beauty and
pathos, the national calamities inflicted by Christian
supremacy, the dissolution of empire, the desecra-
tion of the sanctuary, the dismemberment of families,
the exile of the vanquished, the horrors of servitude.
Moorish Empire in Europe 451
The ordinary lyrics of the Spanish Moslems were
technically known as the Kasida and the Ghazal, and,
in the composition of both, only the alternate verses
were in rhyme. The sonnets of Petrarch are modelled
after this peculiar method of versification, or rather
after its imitations prevalent among the vagrant poets
of Southern Europe. It was principally through the
example afforded by the Moorish kingdom of Sicily
that an intellectual impulse was imparted to the found-
ers of Italian mediaeval literature. The Mohamme-
dan princes who governed that fertile island were
generous and enthusiastic patrons of letters. The
Normans, whose enlightened spirit preserved with
little modification the laws and customs of a civiliza-
tion whose benefits were so apparent, encouraged with
especial favor the labors of the Arab muse. The com-
positions of the Sicilian poets embodied principles and
were governed by canons identical with those in vogue
beyond the Pyrenees. In a land abounding in classic
associations, the scene of military and maritime events
upon whose issue had depended the destiny of em-
pires; whose striking natural features had given rise
to the most charming fictions that adorn the produc-
tions of antiquity, and where the architectural monu-
ments of Grecian elegance and grandeur recalled the
magnificence of former ages ; the Arab, enveloped in
the exclusiveness of his own personality, fettered by
the influence of inherited tradition, never departed
from the beaten track of his ancestors. Physical en-
vironment, unusually so potent in the formation of
taste and the modification of national impulse and
individual characteristics, produced no visible effect
upon the mental constitution of the Moorish poet.
Everything else physiological peculiarities, the gen-
eral tendency of thought, the nature of the objects
of intellectual inquiry, opinions of the benefits to be
obtained from the prosecution of scientific pursuits,
452 History of the
the occupations of daily life underwent radical
changes, but the methods of the poet remained to
the last invariable. The persistence of this spirit
of immobility is further demonstrated by the popu-
lar ballads of the conquerors to whom the Moslems
bequeathed it. The striking resemblance of the songs
of the troubadours to those of the Arabs indicate
plainly the source whence the former derived their in-
spiration. Other circumstances, based upon national
customs, go far towards confirming this opinion.
The Mohammedan Peninsula abounded with itiner-
ant rhymers and sonneteers. They travelled from
mansion to mansion, everywhere welcomed with joy
and hospitality. They attended the person of the
prince. They formed an indispensable part of the
retinue of every great household. Their poems were
ordinarily improvisations, evoked by the occurrences
of the moment or the suggestions of the locality.
Their compensation was gratuitous, entirely depend-
ent upon the caprice of the patron or the generosity
of the auditory. The privileged character of their
profession enabled them to use a boldness of speech
and a freedom of criticism which an ordinary person-
age would not have dared to exercise. In their train
often followed the story-teller, the prototype of the
jongleur, whose lineal descendant may still be seen
amusing with his coarse buffoonery the idle crowds of
Tangier and Cairo.
The graceful courtesy and deference to the sex,
which were the indispensable attributes of every gal-
lant cavalier, in short, the very genius of chivalry,
originated among the Spanish Molmmmedans. The
women of Christian Europe except in countries in-
fluenced by Moslem culture from the tenth to the
fifteenth century received no such social consideration
and enjoyed no such educational advantages as did
their infidel sisters of the Peninsula. In Southern
Moorish Empire in Europe 453
France and Italy a tolerant spirit, fostered by a light
and pleasing literature, had invested woman with an
eminent, indeed with a despotic, authority. Elsewhere
it was far different. Condemned to unspeakable hard-
ships; degraded by brutal associations; if of high
rank, the mere plaything of a tyrannical master; if
born in an inferior position, classed with beasts of
burden; in every situation of life kept in ignorance;
subject to insult, to oppression, to all the sufferings in-
cident to a condition of humiliating dependence little
removed from servitude, such was the lot of woman
in orthodox Christendom. This state of moral and
physical degradation long prevailed, save where inti-
mate contact with Arab civilization produced a sub-
stantial and permanent improvement of social and
intellectual conditions. The most important factor of
this metamorphosis was the poetry of which the
troubadour was the exponent. This erratic calling
drew its members from every rank of society: it in-
cluded sovereigns, princesses, nobles, peasants, beg-
gars. As the rhyming instinct is not innate and almost
universal in Europe as in Asia, the often unlettered
troubadour was more highly considered in Languedoc
and Calabria than was the wandering poet among the
hypercritical literary dilettanti of Seville and Gran-
ada.
In addition to the presumption afforded by the re-
semblance of subject, style, and metre, the fact that
only countries contiguous to, or directly influenced by,
Moorish civilization during the Middle Ages devel-
oped a taste for poetry similar to that of the Arabs,
furnishes strong .corroborative evidence that the gai
science, as the art of improvising verses was called, was
of Arabic derivation. The natural haunt of the trou-
badour was the romantic, semi-tropical region washed
by the waves of the northwestern Mediterranean. The
genius of his poetry ardent, extravagant, voluptuous
454 HiSTOEY OF THE
had nothing in common with the cold and sluggish
spirit of the North. France and Italy were the only
European countries whose boundaries coincided with
those of the Moslems. In both the revival of learning,
after centuries of darkness, first arose. France was
the abode of the Huguenot and the Camisard; the
birthplace of Henry IV. and Coligny; the seat of the
Great Schism which rent the Church in twain; the
vantage-ground of the philosophers who precipitated
the frightful struggle for civil and religious freedom
in the eighteenth century. Italy was the land of
Galileo, of Bruno, of Savonarola, of the Medici; the
home of the Florentine academicians, whose labors and
experiments effected so much for the advancement
of science; the scene of the most extensive reaction
against mediaeval ignorance, a movement inaugu-
rated in the immediate neighborhood of Rome, and
in defiance of the vehement protest of the Papal See.
The greatest names in Italian literature insensibly
acknowledged their obligations to Arabic poetry, by
adopting the style and rhythm of its European imita-
tors, the troubadours. The peerless Dante himself did
not disdain to follow and to advocate the observance of
its rules. The Canzoni of Petrarch present innumer-
able points of resemblance to the productions of Mos-
lem Sicily. Ariosto is greatly indebted to Elmacin.
In the melodious and charming songs of Lorenzo, the
same sources of inspiration are discernible, and the
same rhyme is used. In England, the Canterbury
Tales of Chaucer bear an unmistakable relation in
form and metre to the mediaeval compositions of
Southern France. Nor was this powerful and all-per-
vading influence confined to poetry. The tales of
Boccaccio have an Oriental cast. The very manner of
their recital recalls the customs of the Desert. They are
reminiscences of the popular calling of the Proven9al
jongleur and the Arabic story-teller. In the license
Moorish Empiee in Europe 455
of their expressions, in the wit of their repartee, in the
amusing character of the events which they describe,
they may be classed as reahstic adaptations of the
Thousand and One Nights. The patronage and ex-
ample of the Emperor Frederick II. carried beyond
the Alps the cultivation of letters, and with it the
traditions of Sicilian civilization. From this literary
transmigration originated the Minnesingers, German
counterparts of the troubadours, whose elegant verses
sensibly modified the innate coarseness of the Teu-
tonic character, and introduced a spirit of refinement,
in pleasing contrast with the drunken orgies of the
banquet and the festival. Their two principal pro-
ductions, the Minnesong and the Minnelay, were
models of elegance of diction, beauty of sentiment,
and perfection of rhyme. For more than a century
they were the delight of all classes of German society,
nor did any compositions of equal merit succeed them
until the age of Goethe and Schiller. Into Germany
were also introduced, by the influence of the Emperor,
a spirit of inquiry, the foundation of all true knowl-
edge, and the philosophical and heterodox ideas en-
tertained by the educated Moslems of his Sicilian
dominions. The ultimate efl*ect of this enlightened
policy upon the national mind, imperceptible at the
time, but increasing in intensity with the lapse of cen-
turies, was the defiant course of Luther, which estab-
lished the right of private interpretation of the Scrip-
tures and shook the foundations of the papal throne.
The fact that these three countries, which alone were
directly acted upon by the spirit of Arabic learning
and the example of Moorish civilization, were the scene
of the revival of letters, when the rest of Christen-
dom was plunged in the most abject ignorance, is of
profound significance in ascertaining the causes that,
promoting the intellectual advancement of Europe,
456 HiSTOEY OF THE
have culminated in the great scientific achievements
of modern times.
In Moorish Spain great attention was paid to the
study of the kindred subjects of theology and law.
The commentaries on the rites of the various sects
into which Islam is divided; the arrangement and
review of the enormous mass of tradition which tends
to elucidate or to confirm the ambiguous texts of the
Koran; the digests of the decisions whose authority
is considered unimpeachable, form a stupendous body
of literature chiefly remarkable for the patience, the
learning, and the labor necessarily employed in its
compilation. The muftis and the faquis were the
authorities whose office it was to explain perplexing
questions of Mohammedan jurisprudence. In the
system of the latter, a system generally remarkable
for its simplicity and efficiency, the Koran was the
guide of every magistrate. The rules were supple-
mented by the precepts and suggestions of the Sun-
nah, a collection of traditions derived from sources
more or less authoritative, and transmitted through
many generations. The conflicting interpretation
placed upon ancient customs sanctified by prescrip-
tion, and the disputed authenticity of many of them,
gave rise to a swarm of sects whose rancorous dis-
putes were often terminated by bloodshed. In the
Moslem judicature, the sovereign was the sole foun-
tain of justice. Heir to the patriarchal customs of
the East, he often sat in judgment at the gate of his
palace, heard the complaints of his subjects, composed
their quarrels, reproved their faults, condemned their
animosity, and decided upon their merits all con-
troversies between worthy litigants. Under him was
the kadi, in whom was vested civil and criminal juris-
diction, whose judgments were rendered and whose
sentences from the scourging and the cruel mutila-
tions enjoined by the law to the supreme penalty of
Moorish Empire in Europe 457
decapitation were executed with a relentless promp-
titude little in accordance with modern ideas of crimi-
nal procedure. In these courts there were no opportu-
nities for oratorical display ; custom discouraged such
exhibitions ; and Arab eloquence, unlike that of other
nations, was most concise and laconic. The doctors
of the law and the commentators on the Koran re-
ceived greater homage than any other class of Moslem
men of letters. Their occupation invested them with
a measure of the reverence enjoyed by the works to
which their labors were consecrated; it implied the
possession of superior knowledge, perhaps of inspira-
tion; they were ordinarily personages of venerable
appearance and irreproachable character; and upon
their opinions, promulgated with all the authority of
age, wisdom, and experience, depended the adminis-
tration of justice and the preservation of order
throughout the vast extent of the empire.
The extensive and diversified character of the works
of the Arabs is one of the wonders of literature. This
extraordinary fertility attained a greater develop-
ment in Spain than in any other portion of the Mus-
sulman empire. Al-ModhafFer, King of Badajoz,
wrote fifty volumes; Ibn-Hayyan, sixty; Honein,
a hundred; Abdallatif and Ahmed-Ibn-Iban, the
same; Ibn-al-Heitsam, two hundred; Abu-Moham-
med-Ibn-Han, four hundred; Ibn-Habib-al-Solami
and Abu-Merwan-Abd-al-Melik, each a thousand.
In the realm of history and biography the genius
of the Hispano-Arab was most prolific. The sub-
jects treated are of great variety, and are usually ex-
panded into a prodigious number of books. Tedi-
ous and obscure as is much of their narrative, its
minuteness of detail and extraordinary fidelity to
truth render the surviving collections which, exten-
sive as they are, compose but a fragment of the his-
torical literature that once existed invaluable to the
458 History of the
student. The biographical dictionary of Hadji
Khalfa contains notices of twenty thousand works, of
which twelve hundred are historical. The Arabic criti-
cal, theological, and geographical cyclopaedias were
scarcely less voluminous.
The plan of this work does not contemplate more
than a passing allusion to the principal historical
writers whose learning and talents were conspicuous
during the Moorish domination in Spain. Among
them may be mentioned Ibn-al-Afttas, Prince of
Badajoz, who composed a valuable treatise on the
political and literary events of the Peninsula; Ibn-
Ahmed-al-Toleytoh, of Toledo, who wrote a General
History of Nations; Al-Khazraji, of Cordova, to
whom is attributed a History of the Khalifs; Al-
Ghazzal and Al-Hijari, who published, the one a
rhyming history, the other a topographical descrip-
tion of Andalusia; Ibn-Bashkuwal, of Cordova, and
Mohammed Al-Zuluyide, famous for their biographi-
cal dictionaries; Ibn-al-Khatib, of Granada, whose
marvellous erudition was displayed in the greatest of
his works. The Universal Library, an immense epitome
of the literary and historical facts obtainable in his
time. Disquisitions on general topics were not, how-
ever, the favorite employment of Moorish authors;
their subtle minds preferred the narration of impor-
tant events, the tracing of remote causes, the solution
of obscure historical problems. In the treatment of
special subjects they displayed a wonderful, often a
tedious, prolixity. Each khalif and prince entertained
at his court an historian charged with the description
of the principal occurrences of his reign. Every town
had its annalist, every province its chronicler. There
was not an art or a science, not a profession or a call-
ing, whose origin and influence had not been described,
and its distinguished teachers enumerated, by some
eminent writer. Mohammed Abu-Abdallah, of Gran-
Moorish Empire in Europe 459
ada, compiled an historical dictionary of the sciences ;
Al-Assaker is credited with a curious and instructive
history of inventors. Even animals famous for their
superior qualities were assigned an honorable place
in the biographical productions of the Spanish Mo-
hammedans. Abu-al-Monder, of Valencia, and Ibn-
Zaid-al-Arabi, of Cordova, composed memoirs re-
counting the genealogy, the endurance, the speed, and
the beauty of certain horses conspicuous in a race
proverbial for its excellence. Abd-al-Malik wrote an
account of celebrated camels. The names given to
books, even by the grave and pious, partake of the
fanciful and figurative imagery of the Orient, and
were suggestive of the most precious objects admired
and coveted by man, such as " The Silken Vest,"
" Strings of Pearls," " Links of Gems," " Prairies of
Gold." From a remote antiquity similar titles had
been adopted, for, as has already been remarked, the
earliest of Arabic poems, the Moallakat, derive their
collective appellation, not from having been suspended
in the Kaaba of Mecca, but on account of their
figurative resemblance to the pendants of a necklace.
The Arabic language, regarded by Moslems as the
most perfect of all idioms, received great attention
from grammarians. Their works upon this subject
are infinite, exhaustive, perplexing. One treatise, in
a hundred parts, treats solely of genders. Knowl-
edge of this character was held in the highest estima-
tion. Abu-Ghalib, of Murcia, refused a thousand
dinars of gold from the sultan of that kingdom, who
had solicited, as an honor, the dedication of a work
upon grammar composed by that celebrated scholar,
whose labors were devoted to the instruction of the
people, and not to the flattery of power. Natural his-
tory, chronology, numismatics, were treated at great
length by the European Moslems. The menageries
and aviaries maintained in the principal cities af-
460 History of the
forded unusual advantages to the student of zoology.
Chronological computations were based upon the de-
ductions of the Alexandrian Museum. The Moorish
scholars of Spain and Sicily made invaluable contribu-
tions to the general stock of geographical knowledge.
The measurement of a degree which they effected
approximates very nearly to the one accepted by
modern science. Abulfeda enumerates sixty Arabic
geographers who lived before the thirteenth century.
Many of their maps were veritable works of art, in
which, upon a ground of silk, continents, mountains,
lakes, and streams, represented in relief, were em-
broidered in gold and silver. Their researches were
aided by the historical remains of antiquity, by the
accounts of merchants and mariners, and by the re-
ports of travellers despatched by their sovereigns to
collect information in the remotest corners of the
earth. Ibn-Hamid penetrated to the most inaccessible
regions of Central Asia. Ibn-Djobair visited and de-
scribed Sicily and the countries of the Orient. The
travels of Ibn-Batutah were prolonged through
twenty-four years. Obeyd-al-Bekri, of Onoba, was
the author of a geographical dictionary, in which were
described an immense number of cities, principalities,
and kingdoms. The reputation of all mediaeval geog-
raphers, however distinguished, was obscured by the
fame of the great Edrisi. A native of Malaga, of
royal blood, and a lineal descendant of Mohammed, he
united to pride of birth and the advantages of fortune
all the learning and all the accomplishments to be
acquired in an enlightened age. His relationship to
the Prophet invested him with a dignity and an im-
portance second to none, in the sight of every devout
Mussulman. His education at Cordova was the best
that the ancient capital of the khalifs, still the intel-
lectual centre of the world, could afford. His mind,
improved by travel, was familiar with many countries
Moorish Empire in Europe 461
whose physical features he afterwards depicted with
such abiHty. Invited to Palermo by Roger, King
of Sicily, he speedily attained a high rank among the
scholars of that brilliant court. The geography he
composed, partly from his own information, partly
from data furnished by the King, who had long made
a study of that science, represented the labor of fifteen
years. In vividness of description, in accuracy of
detail, in correct estimation of distances, it is one of
the most remarkable literary productions of mediasval
times. The incomplete work of Ptolemy had for
centuries been the recognized, indeed the only, au-
thority. The configuration of the earth's surface, its
climates, the locations of continents and seas, of cities
and empires, were facts little known, even to persons
of the best education. In Christian lands the Church
sedulously discouraged all such studies as inimical
to Scriptural revelation. Geographical works had
already appeared in Arabic, but they were grossly
inaccurate, and largely based on fable, romance, and
tradition. The compilation of Edrisi marks an era
in the history of science. Not only is its historical
information most interesting and valuable, but its
descriptions of many parts of the earth are still
authoritative. For three centuries geographers copied
his maps without alteration. The relative position of
the lakes which form the Nile, as delineated in his
work, does not differ greatly from that established
by Baker and Stanley more than seven hundred years
afterwards, and their number is the same. The me-
chanical genius of the author was not inferior to his
erudition. The celestial and terrestrial planisphere of
silver which he constructed for his royal patron was
nearly six feet in diameter, and weighed four hundred
and fifty pounds; upon the one side the zodiac and
the constellations, upon the other divided for con-
venience into segments the bodies of land and water,
462 HiSTOEY OF THE
with the respective situations of the various countries,
were engraved. As a recompense for his skill, Edrisi
received from King Roger the remainder of the
precious material, amounting to two-thirds, a hun-
dred thousand pieces of silver, and a ship laden with
valuable merchandise. Such was the munificence with
which the son of a Norman freebooter, bred to arms
and rapine and ignorant of letters, rewarded the
genius of a scholar whose race was stigmatized by
every Christian power in Europe as barbarian and
infidel.
In philosophical studies, the European Arab
evinced the same curious and inquiring spirit which
characterized his investigations of natural phenomena.
The multiplicity of sects into which the religion of
Mohammed was divided, and the incessant religious
controversies which the disputed texts of the Koran
and the conflicting interpretations of doubtful tradi-
tions evolved, were not favorable either to proselytism
or to the maintenance of orthodoxy. The Moslems
had their Nominalists and their Realists, their Mys-
tics and their Epicureans. They understood the
esoteric doctrines of the most renowned schools of
antiquity. They had read and commented upon
Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Socrates, Empedocles, Plato.
They were familiar with the atomic theory of Democ-
ritus. They recognized the argumentative ability of
the Stoics. With the productions of the Alexandrian
School through whose medium was derived their
knowledge of the dogmas of the Portico and the
Academy they were thoroughly conversant. The
prolonged and attentive consideration of these vain
and unprofitable opinions did not, however, commend
itself to the ingenious and practical mind of the Arab.
He indulged in no abstract speculations concerning
the origin, nature, and destiny of man. He wasted no
time in attempts to decide the vexed and frivolous
Moorish Empire in Europe 463
question of the supreme good. He regarded with
boundless favor the works of Aristotle, a predilection
destined with years to develop into an undiscerning
admiration akin to idolatry. To the influence of this
sage of the ancients, the educated Moorish population
of Spain was pecuHarly susceptible. The doctrines
of Al-GhazzaH, of Bagdad, who lived in the eleventh
century, had also obtained general acceptance. His
teachings involved the absolute separation of philos-
ophy from superstition. He believed in a higher
sphere than that of human reason, where was exhibited
the manifestation of the Divine Essence pervading all
space, all matter, a form of the Pantheism of India.
The Peninsula had for centuries experienced the
ascendency of different races of men, the successive
predominance and decay of many forms of religious
belief. The transmission of national peculiarities ; the
survival of various, often hostile, political and social
opinions; the comparison of a series of creeds, each
claiming divine origin and inspiration, yet each, in its
turn, supplanted by a more powerful adversary, had
disposed the minds of men to investigation and reason.
It was only among the intellectual, however, that such
a disposition prevailed. With no class of fanatics did
intolerance exist in greater intensity than among the
orthodox masses of Mohammedan Spain. Their an-
tipathy to all who questioned the revelation of the
Koran or the authenticity of accepted tradition was
irreconcilable. In the unreasoning fury engendered
by prejudice, they forgot the marvels of the civiliza-
tion that surrounded them; the encouragement that
their greatest princes had extended to learning; the
statement of the Prophet that the first thing created
by God was Intelligence. While they loved the ma-
terial pomp which thinly disguised the forms of des-
potism, while they cringed before the pride of rank
and opulence, they found the quiet and unassuming
464 History of the
pre-eminence derived from superior wisdom and a pro-
found acquaintance with letters intolerable. These
narrow ideas, so prejudicial to mental development,
were diligently fostered by the doctors of the law, who
discerned, in the general diffusion of philosophical
opinions, a serious menace to their importance and
dignity. Natural philosophy was the object of their
especial abhorrence. A system which professed to
account for the familiar phenomena daily manifested
on the earth and in the heavens by the operation of
natural causes and inexorable necessity, and which
absolutely dispensed with divine revelation, might well
awaken the suspicion and alarm of a class whose
worldly interests absolutely depended upon the sup-
pression of knowledge and the maintenance of ortho-
doxy. The populace, as usual, sided with their
teachers. As a result the philosopher was an object of
aversion, often of horror, to the conscientious Moham-
medan. In the eyes of the irrational zealot the pursuit
of science was a certain indication of a bargain with
the devil. No rank, however exalted, was proof
against this odious imputation. The greatest of the
Ommeyade and Abbaside khalifs, whose highest title
to fame was the encouragement of letters, were stig-
matized as wizards and magicians. The union of the
powers of Church and State in a single individual, and
the number and importance of the institutions for the
diffusion of knowledge, alone prevented the extinc-
tion of learning by popular violence. The majority
of the Hispano-Arab princes were men of unusual
intellectual attainments, historians, poets, chemists,
philosophers. The patronage they afforded to science
had a deterrent effect on those who longed for the
restoration of purity of doctrine, which had disap-
peared, as it invariably does, before the progressive
march of civilization. Emulating the examples of the
khalifs, the governors of provinces vied with their
Moorish Empire in Europe 465
royal masters in the propagation of knowledge. They
founded schools and academies. They offered prizes
for new and useful discoveries. At their invitation,
the greatest scholars in their jurisdiction assembled
once a year at the seat of government, for public
discussion of subjects of interest to the learned pro-
fessions, or of such as could, through the medium
of practical inventions, be made to enure to the benefit
of the community.
The high estimation in which letters were held was
indicated by the honors paid to writers and the con-
sideration attaching to the office of public librarian.
In the catalogues were inscribed not only the title of
the work, but the name, the parentage, the dates of
the birth and of the decease of the author; and, not
infrequently, interesting biographical notices were
appended to the already ample record. In the
provinces, the custody of the assembled manuscripts
was entrusted to a noble of distinction; but at the
capital the charge of the magnificent library of Al-
Hakem was considered an employment worthy of
royalty itself, and was committed to Abd-al-Aziz, a
brother of the Khalif. The general supervision of
all educational institutions was exercised by Al-
Mondhir, another brother of Al-Hakem, who, in the
absence of the sovereign, presided over the contests of
the famous literary institute in which were exhibited
the talents and the learning of the aspiring scholars of
the empire.
The indefatigable energy of the Arabs exhausted
every source of knowledge. Not only did they trans-
late the masterpieces of Greek and Roman literature,
but they familiarized themselves with Persian, Chal-
daic, Hebrew, Chinese, Hindu, and Sanscrit works.
Honein translated the Septuagint into Arabic. Abul-
f eda was the first to direct attention to the so-called
inconsistencies of the Pentateuch and the pronounced
Vol. III. 30
466 History of the
materialistic character pervading it; to its want of
coherence; to its apparent solecisms; to state that it
contains no mention of a future life, of heaven or hell,
of the immortality of the soul ; and to suggest that its
legends indicate a Persian rather than a Jewish deri-
vation. Averroes had mastered and embraced the
philosophical ideas of India; he believed in the Uni-
versal Intellect; the popular religious fictions which
evoke the hopes and fears of the vulgar he treated with
contempt. The precocity and vast intellectual powers
of the great scholars of Islam are almost beyond
belief. Avicenna, at sixteen, had attained to such
eminence that learned and experienced physicians
came from remote countries to enjoy the benefit of
his wisdom; at twenty-two he was Grand Vizier.
Abul-Hamid-al-Isfaraini was accustomed to lecture
every day on a new topic to a class of seven hundred
students of jurisprudence. Yezid-Ibn-Harun, of
Bagdad, knew by heart thirty thousand traditions.
All were pantheists or agnostics. The generally
irreverent spirit of the age is disclosed by the epigram
of Abu-Ala-Temouki, " The world is divided into
two classes of people, one with wit and no religion,
the other with religion and little wit."
The instruction imparted by the provincial acade-
mies of the empire and by the University of Cordova
the centre of the intellectual activity of Europe
was essentially infidel in character and tendency. The
influence of these institutions upon the public mind
was immense and far-reaching. Thousands of stu-
dents attended their lectures. Their professors were
the first scholars of the age, whose genius and abilities
were not limited to the duties of their calling, but
who at times administered with equal dexterity and
success the most important judicial and diplomatic
employments. Education was in a measure compul-
sory, and, to obtain additional force for the mandates
Moorish Empire in Europe 467
of the law, the sanction of rehgion was enlisted, and
the school became an indispensable appendage to the
mosque. The various institutions appertaining to the
academic system of the Peninsula which culminated in
the University were graded much as are those of mod-
ern times. In Cordova were eight hundred public
schools frequented alike by Moslems, Christians, and
Jews, where instruction was imparted by lectures.
The natural quickness which distinguished the intel-
lectual faculties of the Arab, and his phenomenally
retentive memory, enabled him to achieve results of
incalculable value to the development of his civiliza-
tion. This marvellous progress was promoted by
every incentive which could arouse the energies of
the aspiring or the covetous, by the expected favor
of the monarch, by the prospect of exalted and hon-
orable dignities, by the certainty of magnificent
rewards, by the hope of social distinction, by the
ambition of literary fame. There was not a village
within the limits of the empire where the blessings of
education could not be enjoyed by the children of the
most indigent peasant, and the universities of Gra-
nada, Seville, and Cordova were held in the highest
estimation by the scholars of Asia, Africa, and Eu-
rope. In the various departments of these great insti-
tutions were taught, in addition to the doctrines of
the Koran and the principles of Mohammedan law,
the classics, the exact sciences, medicine, music, poetry,
and art. In the superintendence of academies and
colleges, the profession of Islamism was not consid-
ered an indispensable prerequisite by a liberal and en-
lightened public sentiment; scholarly acquirements
and devotion to learning were the accepted criterions
of fitness for the direction of youth; and both Jews
and Christians attained to acknowledged distinction
as professors in the great University of the capital.
In the ninth century, in the department of theology
4(68 History of the
alone, four thousand students were enrolled, and the
total number in attendance at the University reached
almost eleven thousand. Nor were these priceless
educational privileges restricted to one people or to
the votaries of a single faith. The doors of the col-
lege were open to students of every nationality, and
the Andalusian Moor received the rudiments of
knowledge at the same time and under the same con-
ditions as the literary pilgrims from Asia Minor and
Egypt, from Germany, France, and Britain. A re-
markable correspondence exists between the proced-
ure established by those institutions and the methods
of the present day. They had their collegiate courses,
their prizes for proficiency in scholarship, their ora-
torical and poetical contests, their commencements,
their degrees. In the department of medicine, a
severe and prolonged examination, conducted by the
most eminent physicians of the capital, was exacted
of all candidates desirous of practising their profes-
sion, and such as were unable to stand the test were
formally pronounced incompetent. Great and invalu-
able contributions to the fund of historical and sci-
entific information were made by the members of
the various academies and schools. They composed
voluminous treatises on surgery and medicine. They
bestowed upon the stars the Arabic names which still
cover the map of the heavens. Above the lofty sta-
tion of the muezzin, as he called the devout to prayer,
were projected against the sky the implements of
science to whose uses religion did not refuse the
shelter of her temples, the gnomon, the astrolabe, the
pendulum clock, and the armillary sphere.
The trading expeditions of the adventurous Arab
had long before familiarized him with the relative
positions, areas, and natural productions of the prin-
cipal countries of the globe. But the princes of the
Western Khalifate, not satisfied with the results acci-
Moorish Empire in Europe 469
dentally obtained, frequently despatched to the most
distant regions accomplished scholars with the object
of making new contributions to art, literature, and
geography. In consequence of these extensive voy-
ages, no science was better understood by the Moorish
teachers than that treating of the earth's surface ; and
its practical application was demonstrated by means
of accurate representations of its principal features
carved in relief upon globes of copper and silver.
In the cultivation of the two sciences, geography
was considered as dependent on history, and was often
treated in connection with it and in a subordinate ca-
pacity. The Chaldean shepherds had already, upon
the plains of Asia Minor, by the measurement of a
degree of a great circle, determined the form and
dimensions of the earth; their observations had been
confirmed by the experiments of the Khalif Al-Ma-
mun; and these important data were carried into
Spain with many other treasures of Oriental wisdom.
The earth was whimsically divided into seven zones
or climates, to correspond with the seven planets and
the seven metals known to the Arabs, that number
having with them, as with other branches of the Semi-
tic race, a peculiar and mystic significance. With the
Arab, however, the study of the earth was rather topo-
graphical than geometric ; his measurements were con-
fined to the estimated distances between important
points ; and his figures were approximately calculated
according to the popular but unreliable conception
of the length of a day's journey, which was usually
twenty-five miles on land and a hundred miles by sea.
The geographer, in his description of the provinces
of a country, devoted much space to the location of
springs, wells, and rivulets, a consideration of more
importance in the mind of the traveller whose ante-
cedents were to be traced to the pathless and arid
wastes of Arabia than were even the woody shores and
470 History of the
unruffled harbors of an hospitable coast to the eye of
the shipwrecked mariner.
Nor must the Hbraries be omitted from this list of
those factors of progress which so signally contributed
to public enlightenment and to the formation of na-
tional character. There was no city of importance
without at least one of these treasure-houses of litera-
ture. Their shelves were open to every applicant.
Catalogues facilitated the examination of the collec-
tions and the classification of the various subjects.
Many of the volumes were enriched with illuminations
of wonderful beauty; the more precious were bound
in embossed leather and fragrant woods; some were
inlaid with gold and silver. Here were to be found
all the learning of the past and all the discoveries of
the present age, the philosophy of Athens, the as-
tronomy of Babylon, the science of Alexandria, the
results of prolonged observation and experiment on
the towers and in the laboratories of Cordova and
Seville. Here also were mysterious treatises of
Indian lore, whose origin ascended beyond the records
of history, whose doctrines, perused for centuries in
a dead language, had travelled through the medium
of Greek and Arabic versions from the Indus to the
Guadalquivir, and were ultimately destined to form
the basis of the pantheistic ideas popular among edu-
cated persons at the present day. These opinions had,
long anterior to the invasion of Tarik, provoked the
curiosity and engaged the attention of studious Mo-
hammedans. Under the khalifate, and subsequently,
they were taught in the schools of the Peninsula, fig-
ured in elaborate disquisitions of philosophers, formed
the subject of learned discussion in lyceums and lit-
erary assemblies. Their vital principles were founded
upon the eternity of matter, the unity of intellect, the
final absorption of the spirit of the individual into
the Soul of the World. They accounted for the sue-
Moorish Empire in Europe 471
cession of natural phenomena by laws resulting from
inevitable necessity. They refused to acknowledge
the possibility of the supernatural, and renounced the
time-honored and popular idea of incessant providen-
tial interventions. They ridiculed the apparitions of
angels and demons as phantasms evoked by the credu-
lity and fears of the ignorant. The tenets and cere-
monial of religion were regarded as the convenient
pretexts and apparatus of imposture. The origin of
life was explained by the development of the germ
through its latent force. The law of progressive evo-
lution was considered susceptible of universal appli-
cation, as embracing animal, vegetable, even mineral,
forms. The theory of Lord Monboddo, promulgated
in the eighteenth century and elaborated with such
ingenuity by Darwin in our own time, was, it is evi-
dent, far from being original with either; for Moor-
ish philosophers had, ages before, elucidated its lead-
ing principles. Thus, in the end, they even went to
the extent of including in its operations every descrip-
tion of matter, a course of thought evidently sug-
gested by advanced Hindu conceptions and confirmed
by the fancied analogy between the transmutation of
metals and the transmigration of souls, doctrines also
imported from the extreme Orient. These ideas, so
antagonistic to the dogmas of religion, while long
entertained in secret, had been first publicly advocated
by Solomon-ben-Gabirol, the Jewish philosopher of
Malaga, during the eleventh century. The Moorish
school of rationalism soon included many distin-
guished names. The development of the mental
faculties of humanity was declared to be a manifes-
tation of the incessant activity of the omnipotent, in-
tellectual principle that pervaded all Nature. The
supreme object of human existence was the mastery
of the sensations by the purer and nobler parts of the
soul.
472 History of the
From these speculations, generally accepted, the
opinions of many of the Hispano-Arab philosophers
in time exhibited wide and radical divergence. Some,
it is true, adhered to Peripatetic Pantheism in its
integrity. Others oscillated between the extremes
of mysticism and materialism. Against all, without
exception, the doctors and the populace displayed a
mortal hatred, whose influence even royal favor was
not always able to withstand. Those who had risen
to pohtical eminence were compelled to relinquish their
employments. Many were driven into exile. The
intensity of popular odium forced those who still
pursued their studies into obscurity, sometimes into
penury. Consciousness of a defective title to the
crown often impelled a prince to resort to the ignoble
expedient of persecuting science for the sake of ob-
taining popularity. It was thus that Al-Mansur, the
greatest of Moorish conquerors, himself an enthusiast
for and an adept in the very studies he professed to
condemn, as a political measure for the consolidation
of his power discouraged literature and oppressed
philosophy.
In spite of the extraordinary literary privileges
within their grasp, the masses of Moorish Spain
largely dominated by African influence never ad-
vanced beyond the primary stage of learning. It is
true that they appreciated, in a measure, the benefits
accruing from the employment of scientific methods
in their various occupations of a mechanical or agri-
cultural character. But this reluctant acknowledg-
ment of the advantages of science extended no fur-
ther. The invincible prejudices of the Semitic race
clung to them through all the phases of their civili-
zation. They never discarded the opinions born of a
pastoral life, of all the most conducive to the perpetu-
ation of ignorance. Their antipathy to innovation
was only exceeded by the aversion they entertained
Moorish Empire in Europe 473
towards all who questioned the authenticity of their
religious belief. Greek philosophy they regarded
with undisguised detestation. For their countrymen
who devoted themselves to its study they evinced an
abhorrence greater even than that with which they re-
garded apostasy.
The most famous of the natural philosophers of
Mohammedan Spain, whose transcendent ability has
caused him to be considered the exemplar of all, was
Ibn-Roschid, popularly known as Averroes. His life
embraced the greater portion of the twelfth century;
his voluminous works on theology, jurisprudence, phi-
losophy, and medicine denote an important epoch in
Arabic literature; and his influence, which prepon-
derated over that of any writer of his age, has sur-
vived the overthrow of his government, the dispersion
of his people, the abandonment of his language, and
the manifold catastrophes of more than seven hundred
years. His industry was indefatigable. It is said
that during the greater part of his life there were but
two nights which he did not pass in study, the night
of his marriage and that of the death of his father.
The genius he displayed in other professions has been
overshadowed by the reputation he acquired as a phi-
losopher. He occupied the responsible position of
first physician to the Almohade Emir, Yakub-Al-
Mansur-Billah. He administered for a time the office
of Grand Kadi of Cordova. His immense erudition
was the wonder of Europe. His commentaries on
Aristotle were more highly esteemed by his disciples
and admirers than were even the originals, the master-
pieces of the great founder of the Peripatetics. His
popularity with the Jews was so great that manu-
scripts of his works are more numerous in Hebrew
than any other book except the Pentateuch. By his
Mussulman contemporaries he was believed to have
concluded a compact with Satan; to Christian theo-
474 History of the
logians his name has ever been a synonym of evil.
The audacity of his opinions was indeed calculated
to provoke ecclesiastical indignation. He diligently
inculcated the Indian dogma of Emanation and Ab-
sorption. He treated all revelations as impostures.
Religions he pronounced convenient instruments of
statecraft, admirable contrivances for the preservation
of order and the encouragement of morality. The
three then predominant in the world he held in equal
contempt, the Christian he declared was impossible;
the Jewish he characterized as a creed adapted only to
children; the Mohammedan as a doctrine for swine.
He indulged in sarcasms highly derogatory to the
sanctity of the Eucharist. His popularity among the
clerical profession was not enhanced by the saying
attributed to him: " The tyrant is he who governs for
himself and not for the people, and the worst of
tyrannies is that of the priest."
The power of public opinion, stimulated by the
efforts of orthodox Mussulmans, procured the dis-
grace of Averroes. He was deprived of his judicial
office. The honorable post of court physician was
taken from him. He was compelled to seek refuge in
Africa; his property was confiscated; and, in age
and infirmity, he was exposed to the insults of the
fanatical rabble, who spat in his face as he sat help-
less at the door of the mosque of Fez. With his death
in 1198 disappeared from the Peninsula every out-
ward trace of the doctrines of which he had been both
the champion and the representative. Posterity, on
account of the variety and excellence of his intellectual
gifts, the extent of his erudition, and the boldness with
which he asserted his opinions, has seen fit to dissociate
him from the other learned men of his epoch, his in-
structors, his collaborators, his disciples. There were
many other philosophers, however, such as Solomon-
ben-Gabirol, Ibn-Badja, Ibn-Tofail, Ibn-Zohr, who
Moorish Empire in Europe 475
were his equals in learning and scarcely inferior to him
in natural courage and in argumentative ingenuity
and eloquence.
The apparent extinction of his theories, obnoxious
alike to muftis and populace, was illusory. Intro-
duced with other branches of Moslem science by the
Jews, through the convenient channels of France and
Italy, they eventually permeated the intellectual life
of Europe. The Universities of Paris and Padua,
the literary centres of the age, were from the four-
teenth to the sixteenth century foci of infidelity. The
impiety of propositions openly promulgated by the
faculties of those two great institutions would to-day
shock any one except the most daring agnostic. The
seed thus sown bore abundant fruit. All Italy be-
came tainted with heresy. The Lateran Council, sum-
moned to place the official stamp of ecclesiastical con-
demnation upon the prohibited doctrines, was unable
to check their progress. The Jews carried these ideas
everywhere; scholastics adopted them; they were
even disseminated by members of the monastic orders.
Alexander de Hales, of the Franciscans, was one of
their ardent advocates. Robert Grossetete, Bishop
of Lincoln, second in attainments and reputation only
to his great contemporary Roger Bacon, believed in
the Universal Intellect. It was Savonarola who
wrote, " Ille ingenio divinus homo Averroes philoso-
phus." From the propagation of these theories was
derived the idea of the mythical book, entitled De
Tribus Impostoribus, an alleged satire aimed at
Moses, Christ, and Mohammed, variously attributed
to a score of authors; supposed to be filled with
blasphemy; whose very title was a powerful weapon
in the hands of the clergy, yet whose publication was
apocryphal, and whose contents were necessarily
purely imaginary.
The general acceptance and perpetuation of the
476 HiSTOEY OF THE
opinions of Averroes, denounced from every pulpit,
persecuted by the secular authority and anathematized
by councils, is a striking proof of the universal de-
cline of ecclesiastical power. The most popular poeti-
cal compositions bore the impress of the prevailing
spirit of incredulity and pantheism, which indeed
pervaded, to a greater or less extent, every class of
literature. It was in vain that those most deeply con-
cerned vehemently protested against the alarming
growth of this detested heresy. No rank of the cleri-
cal order was exempt from its effects; it was whis-
pered that its insidious influence had even penetrated
the sacred precincts of the Vatican. That influence
was transmitted unimpaired to posterity, and modern
science is largely indebted for its inquisitive and im-
partial spirit to the doctrines of the great Arabian
philosopher of the twelfth century.
In their treatment and application of the exact
sciences, and especially in the development of the
higher branches of mathematics, the Spanish Moham-
medans exhibited pre-eminent ability. The Arabs
were the first to ascertain with accuracy the length of
the year. They tabulated the movements of the stars.
They discovered the third lunar inequality of 45' six
hundred and fifty years before Tycho Brahe. They
determined the eccentricity of the sun's orbit; the
movement of its apogee; the progressive diminution
of the obliquity of the ecliptic; the amount of the
precession of the equinoxes. To them is due the
credit of having introduced to the knowledge of
Europe many ingenious devices and processes of cal-
culation which diminished labor, and, at the same
time, opened new fields of investigation that otherwise
might have remained unknown and unexplored. The
grand work of Ptolemy, the Syntaxis, had, under the
name of the Almagest, been translated before the
ninth century, and been revised by Isaac-ben-Honein
Moorish Empire in Europe 477
in 827. In the tenth century, the famous Abul-Wefa,
of Bagdad, wrote an astronomical treatise to which
he gave the same name, which caused the two to be
long confounded by scholars. Both of these composi-
tions, equally wonderful for their learning, were early
known to the Spanish Arabs. The numerals of
India, which they adopted, at once superseded the
cumbersome Roman characters hitherto in use. The
decimal system was also introduced by them. They
greatly advanced the study of algebra, whose scope
and possibilities had previously been imperfectly un-
derstood, and applied it to geometry. They substi-
tuted sines for chords, invented modern trigonometry,
proposed a formula for the solution of cubic equa-
tions. They understood the principles of the calculus.
Geber, of Seville, published rules for one of the most
important demonstrations of spherical trigonometry.
Al-Zarkal, of Toledo, was the first to suggest the
substitution of the elliptical orbit to correct the errors
of the generally accepted Ptolemaic system, thus an-
ticipating Copernicus and Kepler. In his attempts
to determine the movement of the sun's apogee alone,
he made four hundred and two observations ; and the
result he obtained was within a fraction of a second
of the amount declared to be correct by modern
astronomers. Abul-Hassan-Ali, by a series of obser-
vations extending over a distance of nine hundred
leagues to establish the elevation of the pole, esti-
mated with precision the dimensions of the Mediter-
ranean. The catalogue made by Ibn-Sina contains
a thousand and twenty-two stars. Ibn-Abi-Thalta
studied the movements of the heavenly bodies with-
out intermission for thirty years. Averroes, while
computing the motion of the planet Mercury, dis-
covered spots upon the sun. The far greater portion
of the results of the labors of the Moorish astronomi-
cal observers of the Peninsula, having shared the
478 History of the
general fate of the monuments of Moslem learning,
are lost. No complete copy of the works of any
Arab astronomer who lived since the ninth century is
known to exist. The extent of this calamity may be
inferred from the fact that in the royal library of
Cairo there were six thousand works on mathematics,
copies of many of which must have been in the hands
of the Moslems of Spain, and none of which have sur-
vived. They made constant use of the formulas of
Ibn-Junis for tangents and secants, of whose exist-
ence Europe was ignorant for six hundred years
after their publication. As the duty of pilgrimage
promoted the study of geography, so an acquaint-
ance with astronomy was rendered necessary to Mo-
hammedans by the requirements of their religion. In
order to determine the direction of Mecca, an exact
knowledge of the points of the compass was indis-
pensable. It was equally important to establish,
without error, the hours of prayer and of diurnal
ablution, and the dates of festivals which began with
the rising of the moon. These considerations, which
invested astronomical pursuits with a semi-religious
character, greatly promoted their popularity. The
study of mathematics was, independently of this in-
fluence, an occupation especially congenial to the
Arab mind. In all the schools were globes, both ter-
restrial and celestial, of wood and metal, planispheres,
and astrolabes. The construction of these latter in-
struments, the precursors of the sextant, as perfected
by the Arabs, was very complicated, and demanded
the exercise of the highest degree of scientific in-
genuity. They were used for the measurement of
angles, and for ascertaining the hour either of the day
or night. Some had as many as five tables, were en-
graved on both sides, and were provided at the bot-
tom with eleven difl'erent projections for as many
horizons. On them were represented the movement
Moorish Empire in Europe 479
of the celestial sphere, the signs of the zodiac, and
the position of the principal stars and constellations.
Interchangeable plates, calculated for different lati-
tudes, facilitated observations wherever made. It
was not unusual for an astrolabe to give the latitudes
of nearly a hundred cities. The invention of the
pierced gnomon by Ibn-Junis greatly simplified ob-
servations made to determine the altitude of the sun.
The passage of time was usually marked by sundials,
and by clepsydras of complex and elaborate mechan-
ism. The oscillatory property of suspended bodies,
represented by the isochronism of the pendulum, was
familiar to the Arabs, who had adapted it to a con-
trivance whose construction resembled that of the
modern clock, an invention generally attributed to
Galileo. Many of the instruments used by them in
their astronomical observations were of enormous
dimensions. Some of their armillary spheres were
twenty-five feet in diameter, and quadrants with a
radius of fifteen feet were not uncommon. The
bronze sextant, employed in the tenth century for the
determination of the obliquity of the ecliptic and de-
scribed by Abul-Hassan, of Morocco, had a radius
of fifty-eight feet, and its arc was divided into
seconds. At that time astronomy, especially among
the Spanish Moslems, had advanced as far as was pos-
sible without the use of the telescope. It was through
the influence of the Arabs that knowledge of that
science, as well as of all other branches of mathe-
matics, was universally diffused. The modern al-
manac, as its name denotes, is their invention, and the
signs by which it designates the seven planets have
been transmitted through their agency. As with all
pastoral nations, their attention was early directed to
the phenomena of the heavens. They noted the rising
and setting of certain stars which seemed intended to
mark the advent of the seasons; they divided the
480 History of the
most prominent groups into constellations, and as-
signed to them, as did the Greeks, a fanciful and
legendary origin and nomenclature. With the prac-
tice of astral worship, incident to every race at a cer-
tain stage of its intellectual progress, was associated
the study of astrology, whose principles, based upon
the imaginary effect of benign or malignant plan-
etary influence, has still in educated as well as in
ignorant communities its enthusiastic votaries. The
practice of this false but attractive science was, how-
ever, in no age confined to impostors. Some of the
greatest minds of mediaeval or modern times believed
in its delusions, which were especially popular with
the most eminent astronomers of the Middle Ages.
Tycho Brahe, who gravely interpreted dreams, drew
the horoscope of the Emperor Rudolph. Even the
ability of Kepler did not preserve him from the preva-
lent superstition; he also cast horoscopes and pub-
lished prophetic almanacs. Its pursuit led to the
cultivation of other and more debased superstitions,
the chimerical follies of geomancy and oneiromancy,
the profane rites of divination and magic, the belief
in the occult virtues of talismans and amulets. The
persistence of those practices, through unnumbered
centuries to the present time, is a singular commen-
tary on human credulity in enlightened as well as in
unlettered ages. In many parts of Germany the
horoscope of an infant is cast at its nativity, and is
religiously preserved, with its baptismal certificate,
until the hour of dissolution. Our farmers sow and
reap and perform the various duties incident to rural
economy with diligent attention to the phases of the
moon. Confidence in the efficacy of talismans is even
in our generation far from extinct. It is uncon-
sciously manifested in the cruciform plan of our ma-
jestic cathedrals; in the gilded emblem which points
heavenward on the summits of their loftiest towers;
Moorish Empire in Europe 481
in the curves of their painted windows, glowing with
all the hues of the rainbow; in the armorial bearings
of some of the proudest royal houses of Europe; in
the carvings of our furniture; in the horseshoe sus-
pended over doorways; in the Teraphim and the
phylacteries of the Jew; in the holy symbols em-
broidered upon the vestments of the Catholic clergy;
in the badges of our secret societies; in the settings
of the jewels which rise and fall on the voluptuous
bosom of Beauty. The superstition of the evil-eye,
universally prevalent in the Orient, is largely respon-
sible for the employment of charms. It is not im-
probable that this belief may have been originally
derived from the peculiar influence exercised by some
person endowed with an extraordinary degree of hyp-
notic power. To animal magnetism as a mysterious
force is certainly due a large proportion of the
magic fascinations of ancient times ; and the power of
the serpent over birds and animals probably gave rise
to the popular fable of the basilisk. The virtues of
amulets were derived, according to common opinion,
not from the substance of which they were composed,
but from the portion of the Universal Intelligence by
which they were supposed to be tenanted.
Thus a desire to penetrate the secrets of futurity
and avert impending misfortune gave rise to the
spurious science of astrology, itself the parent of
astronomy. The European Arabs cultivated both
with almost equal assiduity. The mind of the philoso-
pher, disciplined by the daily habit of mathemati-
cal calculation, was yet unable to discard the delusions
of the horoscope or to forget the visionary and ficti-
tious properties of talismans. In the mental consti-
tution of the ablest Arabian scholars, the fascination
of the occult and the forbidden predominated over
the experience of centuries, the influence of letters,
and the dictates of reason.
Vol. III. 3X
482 History of the
The discoveries of Al-Hazen in optics, communi-
cated to Europe by the Spanish and Sicilian Moham-
medans, have had a marked effect on the development
of that science, and are the basis of all that we know
on the subject. He understood the cause of the
twilight; estimated the density and calculated the
height of the atmosphere. He explained by the prin-
ciple of refraction why celestial bodies are visible
when they are actually below the horizon. He dis-
cussed the effect upon vision of the varying trans-
parency of the air, and suggested that beyond our
atmosphere there was nothing but ether, a proposi-
tion which modern astronomy accepts. First of all in-
vestigators, he corrected the prevalent fallacy that the
rays of light proceed from the eye to the object seen,
an error which had hitherto deceived all who had
written on the science of optics. The works of Al-
Hazen were used as text-books in the Andalusian col-
leges, and they were first made known to Christendom
through the foreigners who came to study Arabic
learning in the schools of Toledo. Among such
literary pilgrims of the twelfth century were the
Englishmen Adelard of Bath, Robert of Reading,
Daniel Morley, William Shelley, and the Italian
Gerard of Cremona. The translations of Arabic
works into Latin introduced by the labors of these and
subsequent scholars in the department of medicine
alone amount to nearly four hundred.
Great as was the reputation of these ambitious
ecclesiastics among the ignorant masses of their coun-
trymen, it did not approach that of the famous Ger-
bert, whose genius had unsuccessfully attempted the
enlightenment of Europe nearly two hundred years
before. The attainments of that accomplished
scholar, respectable in any age, were so superior to
those of his contemporaries that, as has been pre-
viously stated, they procured for him the unenviable
Moorish Empire in Europe 483
and dangerous title of magician. A native of Aqui-
taine, of obscure birth and without resources, his
talents early attracted the notice of the Count of
Barcelona, who provided for his education in that
city. Thence, after a time, he visited the principal
Moorish cities of Andalusia. It was the tenth cen-
tury, the epoch of the highest prosperity and mag-
nificence of the Ommeyade Khalifate. Everywhere
were visible the effects of that civilization which had
no rival in the world. The thorough agricultural de-
velopment of the country; the busy seaports; the
luxurious palaces ; the populous cities ; the well-paved
streets, filled by day with surging multitudes, and
lighted at night by tens of thousands of twinkling
lamps; the illimitable expanse of verdure which
marked the environs of the great Moorish capital,
broken only by occasional watch-towers and gilded
minarets; the gorgeous splendor of the court; the
prodigious libraries; the innumerable schools and
colleges, equipped with every scientific appliance
known to Moslem culture colored maps, armils, sun-
dials, clepsydras, hydrometers, parallactic rules, quad-
rants, astrolabes, planispheres, globes; the mosque
with its throngs of pilgrims gay with the costumes of
every land acknowledging the creed of Islam, these
scenes did not fail to profoundly impress the young
French ecclesiastic, already imbued with prohibited
ideas and fresh from the intolerance, the barbarism,
the credulity, and the intellectual debasement of
Christian Europe. The mind of Gerbert was prompt
to recognize the manifold advantages to be derived
from familiarity with Moslem institutions and erudi-
tion. He became a student of the University of Cor-
dova. During the few years he remained in that city,
his talents and perseverance procured for him a fund
of scientific information unexampled for that period.
On his return he established schools in both Italy and
484 History of the
France. He imported books from every quarter of
the world, and especially from Spain. His pupils,
reckoned by thousands, diffused throughout Europe
the fame of their teacher and the precepts of his
works. The instruction he imparted embodied the
forbidden learning taught beyond the Pyrenees. He
was the first to explain to Europeans the abacus, the
Indian numerals, the science of arithmetic. He
taught geography and astronomy from globes con-
structed at Cordova. He observed the motions of the
planets and determined the elevation of the pole
through diopters. The results of the mechanical in-
genuity which amused his leisure moments awakened
the horror of his ignorant and pious contemporaries.
He invented a steam or hydraulic organ; a clock
whose mechanism was largely composed of wheels and
pinions; and automatons whose mysterious move-
ments suggested to the vulgar a diabolical agency.
He improved the science of music. His system of
imparting knowledge, based upon experiment and
demonstration, exhibited a radical difference from the
prevalent methods of an epoch whose instruction was
limited to Scriptural texts and ecclesiastical admoni-
tion. The renown of the great scholar excited the
envy of the monks, to whom the popular imputation
of infernal communion afforded a pretext for per-
secution. They instigated marauders to plunder his
abbey at Bobbio, in Italy. His library was burned,
his instruments were destroyed, his students dispersed.
This ill-treatment, so far from being, as intended, pre-
judicial to the fortunes of Gerbert, ultimately pro-
moted them. His reputation was everywhere known,
and the awe his wisdom excited was increased by the
supernatural means he was believed to employ. He
was patronized by the King of France and the Em-
peror of Germany ; he became successively Bishop of
Rheims and of Ravenna; and, through the influence
Moorish Empire in Europe 485
of the latter sovereign, he was, in the year 999, raised
to the pontifical dignity, under the name of Sylvester
II. Even in that exalted position, the relentless spirit
of ecclesiastical malice did not permit him to rest.
His attempts to reform clerical abuses brought down
upon him the vengeance of the corrupt and rapacious
ministers of the papal court. The most absurd
fables were invented to account for the results of his
scientific experiments, otherwise incomprehensible
by mediaeval ignorance. He was accused of gross im-
morality, blasphemy, magical incantations, the invo-
cation of demons. It was whispered that goblins of
fantastic dress and repulsive aspect attended him at
midnight during the celebration of impious orgies and
profane sacrifices. The diligent propagation of these
scandals prepared the way for the punishment meted
out in that age to all daring reformers, and especially
to those who presumed to interfere with the preroga-
tives and emoluments of the clergy. A victim of slow
poison, Sylvester II. survived his elevation to the
Papacy less than four years. His name was anathe-
matized, his doctrines condemned as heretical, and the
perusal of his writings prohibited as contrary to the
canons of the Church and prejudicial to the interests
of religion. After his decease, a long period of dark-
ness again clouded the Christian world. The dawn-
ing spirit of inquiry thus suppressed, men once more
turned to the priest for counsel, for assistance, for
the explanation of natural phenomena, for the cure
of disease. Such was the inauspicious and apparently
futile result of the first introduction of Arabian learn-
ing into Roman Catholic Europe.
The unrivalled excellence of the agricultural
methods employed by the Spanish Mohammedans was,
in large measure, due to their profound botanical
knowledge. That science, practically unknown in the
desert wastes of Arabia, to which nature has be-
486 History of the
grudged the wealth of her vegetable kingdom, was
early pursued with great energy and success by the
conquering Moslems. In no other part of their em-
pire, however, was such progress made in its study
or such beneficial results obtained from the culture
of plants as in Andalusia. Their analysis and classi-
fication, and the determination of their properties,
were sedulously encouraged by the government. The
scientific expeditions of the khalifs collected speci-
mens and seeds from every quarter of the world.
Gardens for the propagation of both native plants
and exotics were established in the environs of all the
great cities, and the results of intelligent observation
and experiment were regularly tabulated for the pub-
lic benefit. In the oases of the Desert, along the
banks of the Nile, on the fertile plains of Mesopoto-
tamia, on the arid plateaus of Central Asia, in the
pestilent delta of the Ganges, the botanists of Cor-
dova added to the stock of ideas and principles to be
subsequently developed and advantageously applied
in the valley of the far distant Guadalquivir, Nor
were their efforts confined to the mere collection and
examination of products of the vegetable kingdom.
Every novel appliance, every useful invention, which
might prove beneficial to horticulture, to irrigation, to
the various branches of rural economy, were diligently
noted and carefully preserved. As a consequence of
these laborious researches, the Andalusian Arabs be-
came more proficient in the kindred sciences of botany
and agriculture than any people who have ever ex-
isted. In their country were concentrated all the
fruits of the learning and experience of centuries then
extant in the world. It is said that they added to the
herbals of the ancients more than two thousand
varieties of plants. They described the circulation of
the sap; they understood the ofiices of the bark and
the leaves. Every source of information was thor-
Moorish Empire in Europe 487
oughly explored. Already, in the tenth century, the
treatise of Dioscorides had been translated into Ara-
bic by a monk of Constantinople, sent by the Em-
peror at the special request of the Khalif, because
the subjects of the latter were ignorant of Greek.
The botanical works of the Hispano- Arabs were en-
riched with drawings from nature, beautifully exe-
cuted in colors. When Ibn-Beithar, of Malaga, the
most famous of Moslem botanists, travelled in the
Orient, he was accompanied by a corps of artists,
whose skill preserved the form and tints of unfamiliar
flora in all their beauty and perfection. His is the
greatest name in the annals of this important branch
of learning from Dioscorides to Linnaeus, an interval
of fifteen hundred years.
In the wide range of philosophical and experimen-
tal study, however, no subject was so congenial to the
taste of the Arab or appealed more strongly to his
imagination than the pursuit of the spurious science
of alchemy. That science originated in Egypt, the
land of isolation, of enchantment, of prodigy. Its
investigation, confined to a privileged class, had been
protected by the double safeguard of religion and
secrecy. For innumerable centuries the Egyptian
priesthood, the sole depositaries of knowledge, had, in
laboratories hidden in temples or excavated in the
rocky sides of mountains, eagerly devoted themselves
to the discovery of the universal panacea, of the
elixir of life, of the transmutation of inferior metals
into gold. The Ptolemaic dynasty, heir to these de-
lusions so acceptable to human egotism and avarice,
had contributed to their universal dissemination over
Europe and Asia. The Arabs, from the first hour of
their intellectual emancipation, prosecuted with alac-
rity a study especially adapted to their national in-
clination and genius. The fact that the Koran pro-
hibits such occupations made their association with
488 HiSTOEY OF THE
religion, contrary to the custom in Egypt, imprac-
ticable. At Toledo and Cordova, alchemy was not
designated, as at Memphis and Thebes, the " Sacred
Art," cultivated in the precincts of temples, com-
municated only to royalty, screened from the pro-
fanation of the vulgar by the delusive mummeries of
processions and sacrifices. Its close relations with
thaumaturgy and divination, with astrology and
magic, were inevitable consequences of the uncer-
tainty of its results, and of the mystery that envel-
oped its professors. Ancient Hebrew tradition, as
disclosed by the apocryphal books of the Bible, asserts
that the occult arts and sciences were the gift of evil
spirits to the children of men. The Romans punished
such practices with death, probably for the reason
that they came into competition with the oracles, a
fruitful source of revenue and prestige to the state.
Thus, in a measure, placed under the ban of rehgion
and law, a subject of suspicion and fear to the masses,
the study of alchemy was fraught with danger, even
amidst the Pagan associations of antiquity. In the
Middle Ages, the endangered interests of priestcraft
added to legal prohibition and the prejudice of public
opinion the resistless force of their condemnation.
The Spanish Arabs, passionately fond of experi-
ment and novelty, were eminently proficient in the
technicalities of the Hermetic Art. They entertained
the idea that the same elements, in different propor-
tions, were present in all metals, and that, by certain
processes of elimination, any metal, as, for instance,
ffold, could be obtained. Like their masters, the
Alexandrian Greeks, they concealed their discoveries
in the obscurities of a learned jargon. The principles
of their calling were indicated by mysterious sym-
bols, enigmatical phrases, mutilated formulas, capable
of interpretation only by themselves. With the ad-
vancement of learning, the operations of the alchemist
Moorish Empire in Europe 489
were practised with less concealment and mystery.
His labors were encouraged by the Idialifs, of whom
some were themselves adepts, and prosecuted their
investigations in well-equipped laboratories. The
prevalence of one delusion led to the propagation of
others, and the original objects of alchemical research
became confounded with astrology, mysticism, and all
their chimerical relations and incidents, theories in-
volving the seven planets and the seven metals, the
ceremonies of exorcism, the procuring of happiness
by the identification of the soul with the Universal
Intellect. Attracted by the profits to be obtained
from human credulity, a swarm of charlatans sprang
up in every community, prototypes of the impostors
who infested the society of Europe during the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries. Among these the Jews
attained an unenviable notoriety, a reputation des-
tined in subsequent ages to produce most deplorable
consequences. Even under the Pharaohs, Hebrew
astuteness had succeeded in penetrating the well-
guarded arcana of the Egyptian priesthood. It was
mainly through their traditional avarice that the pre-
cepts and formulas of the Sacred Art, divulged to
the Greeks and afterwards to the Arabs, became the
property of mediaeval Europe. In Mohammedan
Spain the Jews excelled in this unpopular but lucra-
tive profession, as they did in every pursuit requiring
intelligence, energy, craft, and skill. From this con-
fused medley of philosophy, magic, and imposture
were unconsciously obtained results of superlative
value to the human race. The adept, poring over
his retorts and crucibles in vaulted chambers far
removed from inquisitive eyes, stumbled upon dis-
coveries more important than that of the philosopher's
stone. In attempts to accomplish the transmutation
of metals, processes were invented by which the analy-
sis, separation, and smelting of ores were, hundreds
490 History of the
of years afterwards, facilitated, and the visionary aim
of the alchemist, in a measure, accomplished. From
these secret experiments came the knowledge of the
working of metals, of the composition of alloys, of
the fusing of glass, of the application of enamels.
Alchemy was thus the precursor of chemistry, and,
so intimately are their principles and relations con-
nected, that it is impossible to determine where the
false science terminates and where the true science
begins. The Hispano-Arabs carried the operations
of both to a point not hitherto attained by the ex-
perimenters of the ancient world. While they
profited largely by the learning of the East, it would
be unjust to deny them the merit of conspicuous
and striking originality. They practically invented
modern chemistry. Their writers describe with clear-
ness and precision the processes of crystallization,
sublimation, distillation, filtration, solution. They
introduced nitric and sulphuric acids, those powerful
solvents, without whose agency chemical combinations
could not be effected. To them is due the discovery
of alcohol, muriate of ammonia, potassa, bichloride
of mercury, nitrate of silver, and phosphorus. The
adaptation of these substances to the multifarious
purposes of daily existence has bestowed upon the
inventor almost boundless resources for the develop-
ment of the industrial arts, and has provided the sur-
geon with efficacious means of alleviating human
suffering. The use of caustics and acids produced
a revolution in medicine, and the skill of the physi-
cian, even in Christendom, was no longer classed with
the exorcisms of the necromancer or subordinated to
the mummeries of the priest. The Moslems of the
Peninsula were aware that a calcined metal gains
instead of loses weight, a fact whose knowledge
foreshadows an acquaintance with gases and the
discovery of oxygen; nor were they ignorant of
Moorish Empibe in Europe 491
the existence and the properties of hydrogen. Pro-
cesses for the oxidation of metals and for the gen-
eration of gases are first mentioned by Djabar-al-
Kufi, or Geber, whose personal history is unknown,
and who is often confounded with the mathematician,
Djabar-Ibn-Aflah, of Spain. The greatest Arabian
chemist of any age, his abilities have been recognized
and his name has been mentioned with respect by
every investigator of the exact and experimental
sciences down to the present day. It has been well
said that he bears the same relation to chemistry
that Hippocrates does to medicine. His writings
calm, judicious, eminently logical are not ob-
scured or disfigured by the absurdity and charla-
tanism of the epoch. Aside from his reference to
the generation of gases by heat, and the radical
alterations undergone by the substances from which
they are derived, his fame would have been per-
manently established by his discovery of nitric acid
and aqua regia, products of the laboratory not pre-
viously described by any author. Thus the philo-
sophical methods of the Spanish Moslems gradually
developed the visionary operations of alchemy into
the science of chemistry. To the latter, however, still
clung numerous indications of an origin fraught with
imposture. Important experiments were deferred
until the planetary influences were declared to be au-
spicious. The elixir of life was sought for with un-
diminished ardor. Monarchs were still deluded and
plundered by means of fallacious promises of wealth
to be obtained by the transmutation of metals. But,
in many respects, notable changes were discernible,
harbingers of incalculable benefit to both the physical
and intellectual condition of humanity. Then was
first effected the permanent separation between ex-
perimental science and religious mysticism, a union
fatal to mental development and to the arts of civili-
492 History of the
zation. From the earliest times, every important un-
dertaking had been invested with a sacred character,
and supplemented with ceremonies adopted to avoid
publicity and to enhance its mysterious significance.
It was no longer accounted sacrilege to explain the
secrets of nature or necessary to enshroud the dis-
coveries of the philosopher with the terms of an alle-
gorical jargon. The scientific lectures of the Moorish
universities of Spain were open to all students; the
analyses of the laboratory were daily performed in
the presence of thousands. Familiarity with its
operations, experience of its advantageous applica-
tion, diminished in time the suspicion with which
chemistry was viewed by the populace. That science,
necessarily slow in its development, originally based
upon erroneous principles, profiting by the opportuni-
ties of accidental discovery, retarded by innumerable
failures, hated by the priesthood, feared by the igno-
rant, classed as diabolical by the superstitious, was far
from possessing the capability for progressive ad-
vancement and permanence of which mathematics was
susceptible. Although practically its inventors, the
Arabs paid more attention to the adaptation of its
discovery to medicine than to the improvement of its
processes or the purification of its products. This
predilection induced them to separate pharmacy from
chemistry as well as from medicine, thus creating a
new and most important branch of science, of uni-
versal application and of practical benefit.
Europe is indebted to the Moslems of Spain and
Sicily for the introduction of such drugs as nux
vomica, cassia, croton, tamarind, myrrh, sandal,
cubebs, ergot, senna, rhubarb, and camphor; for such
spices as cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon; for
such compounds as juleps, elixirs, syrups, and elec-
tuaries, still known to commerce by their Arabic
names. Under the Idialifs, pharmacies were estab-
Moorish Empire in Europe 493
lished in all the principal towns of the empire,
subordinated to great central depots at Toledo and
Cordova. These were placed under government su-
pervision, were visited by inspectors, and their owners
held accountable for the purity of their commodities
and the methods of their preparation. In Sicily the
laws were even more stringent: every dispenser of
drugs was subjected to a rigid examination as to his
qualifications, and the professional oath of the physi-
cian required him to denounce to the proper authori-
ties any pharmacist whose wares were inferior in
quality to the regular standard. In addition to these
salutary precautions against dishonesty and fraud, a
scale of prices, publicly displayed, prevented extor-
tion; and violation of the law subjected the offender
to serious penalties. These regulations, adopted in
the thirteenth century by the Emperor Frederick II.,
contributed greatly to the success attained by the
medical schools of Salerno and Naples, and made
Sicily the most famous market for medicaments in the
world.
It is a remarkable circumstance that the science of
the Saracens was largely diffused among the nations
of Northern Europe through the agency of the ec-
clesiastical order, to whose faith, organization, and
traditions it had always evinced an implacable hostility.
The general dearth of educational facilities in the
Middle Ages, the monopoly by the clergy of such
learning as existed, and the fact that, among the lat-
ter, would be found, sooner or later, superior minds
dissatisfied with the ignorance and the absurdities of
the Fathers, were conditions that inevitably tended to
this result despite the anathemas of pontiffs and the
decrees of synods. Many of these innovators came
from the monastic orders. It must not be forgotten
that both Savonarola and Bruno were Dominicans.
For more than a century there emanated from Toledo
494 History of the
translations into Latin of classical works that had
long before been rendered from Greek into Arabic.
The pioneer of this intellectual movement was Arch-
bishop Raj^mond, a Frenchman. His example was
followed by Herman of Dalmatia, Michael Scott,
and John of Seville. The three greatest Christian
disseminators of the science derived from the Moors,
however, were Albertus Magnus, Bishop of Ratisbon ;
Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln; and Roger
Bacon, professor in the University of Oxford, all of
the thirteenth century. The first is popularly known
to posterity as an alchemist and a magician. He was,
besides, a man of extensive knowledge, and a writer
of voluminous treatises on theology, philosophy,
alchemy, and chemistry. He described successfully
the action of acids, the character of alkalies, the forms
and alloys of metals. The method used to-day in the
manufacture of caustic potash is identical with the
one he recommends. He was the first to prove by
sublimation that cinnabar was a compound of sulphur
and mercury. He understood perfectly the prepara-
tion of acetate of copper, of arsenic, of oxide of lead.
The process of refining metals was also familiar to
him. He gives the composition of gunpowder, an
invention also attributed to Friar Bacon, but unques-
tionably due to the Arabs. The idle legends attaching
to his name, which have ascribed to him supernatural
powers derived from an intercourse with demons, are
a part of the homage that mediaeval credulity was
accustomed to pay to superior intelligence. His life,
devoted to science, was as exemplary in its character,
in an age of ecclesiastical corruption, as his talents
were great and his deeds meritorious. His mathe-
matical knowledge and his mechanical skill were the
marvel of his contemporaries. The curious automa-
ton that he constructed, which could open doors and
utter guttural sounds, was broken to pieces by St.
Moorish Empire in Europe 495
Thomas Aquinas, who had previously satisfied him-
self of its magical origin and diabolical character.
Robert Grossetete, Bishop of Lincoln, eminent
alike in scientific attainments and theological con-
troversy, is one of the prominent and interesting
characters of English mediaeval history. An ac-
complished scholar, he was profoundly versed in all
the learning of his time. Anticipating WycMf by
more than a century, he was not afraid to criticise
publicly the abuses of the Papacy, to defy its man-
dates, and to advocate the exercise of individual judg-
ment in ecclesiastical matters. In these daring inno-
vations we obtain the first glimpse of the audacious
spirit which animated the founders of the English
Reformation. He resisted successfully the presen-
tation of Italian prelates to the vacant benefices of
England, a prerogative hitherto exercised by the See
of Rome, almost without remonstrance. He elevated
the standard of scholarship at Oxford by introducing
the methods of examination which obtained in the
University of Paris, at that time the first institution
of learning in Christian Europe. Although of dis-
tinguished rank in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, the
unconcealed exultation of the Pope at his decease is
a suggestive indication of the broadness of his views,
and of the danger to the cause of ecclesiastical su-
premacy incurred by the extent of his knowledge, the
boldness of his sentiments, and the unchecked propa-
gation of his heretical doctrines.
But the greatest of this trio of illustrious names, in
both renown and influence, is that of Roger Bacon.
Born in 1214, he was early distinguished for his ex-
traordinary abilities. He studied at Oxford and
Paris, mastered without difiiculty the sciences as
taught at those two universities, and, unfortunately
for himself, adopted the habit of the Franciscan
Order. His inclinations, little in accordance with the
496 History of the
maxims of his profession, impelled him to the investi-
gation of natural phenomena. He seems to have had
well-defined notions of many practical devices which
have contributed largely to the triumphs of modern
civilization. He regarded experiment and demon-
stration as the only rational method of arriving at
philosophical truth. A mind endowed with remark-
able versatility, a spirit of indomitable perseverance,
acquired for him an acquaintance with languages un-
exampled in his age. In addition to being thoroughly
conversant with the classics, Hebrew and Arabic,
generally unknown in the thirteenth century except
to the Jew and the Saracen, were as familiar to Bacon
as the accents of his mother tongue. It is said that
he devoted forty consecutive years to the study of
science. He expended for rare books and for the
apparatus necessary for its researches the sum of two
thousand pounds sterling, an amount corresponding
to seventy-five thousand dollars of our money. In
his writings, he especiallly recommends the study of
mathematics as the most potent instrument of mental
culture, the only key which can unlock the secrets of
Nature. His erudition embraced the most recondite
branches of learning, and some of his suggestions
viewed in connection with subsequent discoveries al-
most seem prompted by supernatural inspiration. He
recognized the necessity for the reform of the calen-
dar, and applied to Pope Clement IV. for permission
to rectify its errors, but the latter refused. He de-
clared a thorough knowledge of optics to be indis-
pensable for the construction of astronomical instru-
ments. After the perusal of his writings, a doubt
can hardly be entertained that he was the inventor
of spectacles, whose idea he obtained from Al-
Hazen, and that he also understood the adjust-
ment of the lenses in the telescope. He explained
the phenomena of the rainbow as due to refrac-
Moorish Etvipire in Europe 497
tion. The power of magnifying-glasses he correctly
states to vary with the size of the angle under which
the object is seen. He gives the ingredients and
describes the effects of gunpowder, a discovery in
which he was, however, anticipated by Albertus
Magnus. He discourses on the possibilities of in-
ventions similar to the steam-engine, the balloon,
and the application of electricity, obscure, it is true,
yet with an accuracy of perception that seems incredi-
ble, and which cannot be questioned without denying
the authenticity of his works. He apparently un-
derstood the theory of the suspension-bridge. He
refers to the inflammable product obtained by the
sublimation of organic matter, probably an allusion
to hydrogen. The properties of carbonic acid gas,
unfavorable to combustion and fatal to animal life,
he mentions in terms whose meaning cannot be mis-
understood. He entertained the ancient idea of the
compound nature of metals, and declares that, in order
to effect their transmutation, a reduction to their pri-
mary elements is an essential requisite to success. He
explains their artificial coloration, a trick very popular
with charlatans, who passed off inferior metals sub-
jected to processes that changed their appearance for
silver and gold. The latter metal he asserts to be
perfect, because in its formation the operations of
countless ages have been completed, and similar pro-
cesses must be devised by man before he can hope to
enter into competition with Nature. In addition to
his proficiency in mathematics and chemistry. Bacon
was a learned astronomer and a physician. He also
constructed automatons, which brought down upon
his head the censures of the Church and the enmity
of the ignorant. Accused of magic, although he
wrote a treatise against it, fanaticism and hatred sen-
tenced him to imprisonment and anathematized his
works. After ten years of confinement in a dungeon,
Vol. III. 32
498 HiSTOEY OF THE
he was liberated, only to die with the first return of
the blessings of freedom. The intolerant spirit of the
age that condemned him is epitomized in a sentence
taken from a chapter in which he deplores the irra-
tional bigotry that obstructs the progress of scien-
tific investigation, "Animus ignorans veritatem sus-
tinere non potest." The versatility of his talents was
only surpassed by the audacity with which he at-
tacked and the success with which he controverted
the absurd prejudices of his epoch. His name, sy-
nonymous with progress, stands forth in prominent
contrast with the intellectual abasement and unques-
tioning credulity with which he was surrounded. His
prophetic foresight, while it provoked the ridicule of
the thirteenth century, commands alike the respect
and astonishment of ours. Like every innovator, he
experienced the penalties of superior genius, per-
secution, contumely, deprivation of liberty. Among
the representative scholars of the Middle Ages, he de-
serves pre-eminent celebrity as a bold and original
exponent of experimental philosophy and scientific
thought.
Although unappreciated by his contemporaries,
Roger Bacon found a host of imitators during the
next three centuries. Members of every rank and
profession embraced the study of alchemy. The cleri-
cal order included the larger number; the secrecy of
the cloister was made subservient to the purposes of
magic; and the formulas of the laboratory claimed
far more attention than the accomplishment of pen-
ance or the ceremonies of devotion. It was even
alleged that Pope John XXII. found time at Avig-
non to engage in a fruitless search for the philoso-
pher's stone. From these illusory occupations were,
as already remarked, occasionally derived discoveries
of great practical value. The benefits resulting from
the exercise of the spirit of inquiry and the vigorous
Moorish Empire in Europe 499
employment of the intellectual faculties were of even
greater consequence to the growth of civilization and
the future welfare of mankind.
In no department of scientific investigation was the
genius of Arabian culture more signally displayed
than in the noble profession of medicine. In ancient
Arabia, disease was supposed to be an indication of
the anger of God, which it was the peculiar province
of the sorcerer to remove. The erroneous ideas of
morbific conditions common to nations in their intel-
lectual infancy, among the primitive Arabs, conspicu-
ous for their ignorance, were even more pronounced
than was characteristic of other races not less barbar-
ous. It was a long step from the fetichism of the
Desert to the sacrificial ceremonies of Rome and the
Asclepiads of Greece, yet all were of a similar char-
acter, though the latter represented the origin of the
medical science of antiquity. Temperance was at
once the precaution and the remedy of the abstemious
Bedouin. Mohammed diligently inculcated the doc-
trine that the stomach was the seat of all diseases,
and fasting their cure.
The beneficent art which has for its object the alle-
viation of human suffering was in the seventh century
degraded to the vilest purposes of the priest and the
charlatan. The writings of the celebrated Greek
practitioners, lost in the universal destruction of
learning consequent upon barbarian supremacy or
hidden in the seclusion of the cloister, had been for-
gotten. The reputation of the medical school of
Alexandria, whose methods had wrought such mira-
cles in the advancement of science, was, in the minds
of the more intelligent, but an indistinct and doubt-
ful tradition ; to the ignorant it was wholly unknown.
Then, and for centuries afterwards, throughout
Christendom, medicine was closely allied with sorcery
and imposture, partly astrological, partly mystical,
500 History of the
but never scientific. The supernatural character with
which ecclesiastical shrewdness and cunning had in-
vested it, the accepted principle that disease was
punishment inflicted for the commission of sin, a
principle which, strange to say, has still its advocates
even in our enlightened age, rendered all progress
impossible. INIaladies were largely attributed to the
influence of spirits or to the possession of devils, to
be exorcised by prayer, holy water, the application of
relics, the invocation of saints. The superstitions in-
herited from Pagan antiquity, and of incalculable
potency in their action upon the minds of the multi-
tude, were a source of great revenue to the clergy.
Among the vast number of holy men whose names
fill the pages of the Roman Catholic calendar there
were many individuals whose intercession was con-
sidered especially efficacious in the treatment of cer-
tain diseases. The policy of the Church, which lost
no opportunity of impressing the fancy of its vo-
taries, even went so far as to expel from the con-
stellations of the zodiac the familiar forms of the
ancients, and to substitute in their stead represen-
tations of cenobites and martyrs, the piety of whose
lives, often of questionable authenticity, had obtained
for them the honor of canonization. The identifica-
tion of the treatment of disease with religious cere-
monial, and indirectly with celestial interference,
conferred upon the priesthood a new and formid-
able weapon of spiritual power. Their influence,
already great at the bedside of the sick and the
dying, soon became paramount. To the weight which
their ecclesiastical functions imposed, they added the
dictatorial manner which is essential to the successful
ministrations of the physician. They collected enor-
mous fees. They disposed of estates. Often, in the
very presence of death, they engaged in unseemly
disputes over the division o'f the spoil. They forced
Moorish Empire in Europe 501
the afflicted to the most humihating compliances.
Profoundly ignorant of the nature of disease and
its cure, they supplied their glaring deficiencies by the
employment of every resource of imposture known
to their calling. By aspersions and the exhibition of
the Host they cast out demons. They removed pain
with the sovereign virtues of relics. Chronic affec-
tions were treated by protracted prayer and vicarious
penance. Pilgrimages to sacred localities, supple-
mented by frequent and generous contributions, were
also of notable efficacy. The waters of certain wells
and springs under the patronage of a saint, and which
had been the scenes of well-attested miracles, were
classed among the most popular therapeutic agents.
The gift of healing, especially efficacious in cases of
goitre and scrofula, with which royal personages were
supposed to be endowed, was another of the delusions
in which mediaeval times were so remarkably prolific.
This singular idea, probably of British origin, can
be traced to the reign of Edward the Confessor, and
was not discarded until the accession of the House
of Brunswick. Its institution was undoubtedly ec-
clesiastical; the repetition of a religious formula ac-
companied the touch of the sovereign; and the prac-
tice of the ceremony at Pentecost was always a source
of much edification to the multitude, and of substan-
tial profit to the religious establishment under whose
auspices it happened to be conducted.
Side by side with clerical impostors, another class
of practitioners, equally ignorant and scarcely less
dangerous, preyed upon the superstitious and credu-
lous of mediaeval society. These were the charlatans
who posed as astrologers, alchemists, magicians.
Their encroachments upon the territory of the
Church, and the suspicious methods they employed,
necessitated a certain degree of concealment and
secrecy, but their haunts were well known to their
502 History of the
victims. They professed to consult the appearance
of the heavens, the motions of the planets, the recur-
rence of eclipses, the apparition of comets and
meteors, in the compounding of medicines and the
treatment of distempers. Celestial phenomena were
thus regarded as of the highest importance in the
determination of symptoms and the administration
of remedies. The curative virtues of plants were
entirely dependent on the position of the star under
which they were gathered. A correspondence of
qualities was presumed to exist between objects hav-
ing the same color or form, an idea possibly as old
as man himself. Hence were derived the imaginary
aphrodisiacal virtues of the mandrake, and the al-
leged properties of red and white substances as calori-
facients and refrigerants. The occupations of these
pretenders, usually confined to the fleecing of their
dupes, were, however, not always so innocuous. They
were eminently skilled in the composition of love-
philters and poisons, whose secret administration is
believed to have more than once changed the succes-
sion of certain of the royal houses of Europe. The
criminal history of the Middle Ages is not more re-
markable for the nefarious deeds of these fraudulent
practitioners than for the immunity which the posses-
sion of dangerous secrets enabled them to enjoy.
To the ministrations of these two classes that of
the ecclesiastic and that of the charlatan was the
health of Christian Europe thus committed for many
centuries. A striking similarity characterized the pro-
ceedings of both. Each employed mummeries, exor-
cisms, incantations. Each professed to believe in the
efficacy of amulets. One invoked the intercession of
the saints ; the other was credited with holding nightly
intercourse with the spirits of the infernal world.
Both, by the alleged exercise of supernatural affilia-
tion, wielded great power, and lived in luxury at the
Moorish Empihe in Europe 503
expense of those whom they habitually deluded.
While each considered the other as encroaching on his
peculiar domain and an object of suspicion, a com-
munity of sentiment between them generally pre-
vented any serious outbreak of hostility. The favor
and protection of the prince was equally accorded to
these two appendages of the court. One was the
keeper of the royal conscience; the other was valued
as an unscrupulous and ever available instrument of
secret vengeance. Both at times exercised the im-
portant functions of physician. Unfortunate, indeed,
was the invalid dependent upon such inadequate re-
sources. For him there was no prospect of substantial
relief; no system of intelligent treatment; no reme-
dies but incense, relics, and the mysterious formulas
of imposture; no prophylactic but the talisman; no
diagnosis but the consultation of the stars; no pre-
scription but the Pater and the Ave. In the estima-
tion of the populace, the calling of the physician was
identical with that of the necromancer. In the advice
of the priest the greater confidence was reposed, his
connection with the Church investing his opinions with
a divine, even an infallible, sanction. When failure
resulted, as was often the case, it was not attributed
to inexperience and ignorance, but to neglect to pro-
pitiate the saints and the Virgin. The commonest
rules of hygiene, upon which are absolutely depend-
ent the health of communities, were habitually ig-
nored. The streets were open sewers. The court-
yards steamed with miasmatic vapors engendered by
decaying garbage. Into most houses the purifying
rays of the sun could never penetrate. Floors and
walls alike were grimy with filth. Linen and cotton
garments worn next the skin, and which contribute
so much to personal comfort and cleanliness, were
unknown; the Arabs, by whom they were invented,
had not yet introduced them to the knowledge of Eu-
504 History of the
rope. The supply of water, everywhere contami-
nated, became a proHfic source of infection. Public
baths did not exist; a profane luxury of the Pagan
and the Saracen, their use was contrary to the tradi-
tions of Christianity; the Gospels contain no general
precepts for ablution; and its practice was abhorrent
to the meditative simplicity of clerical and monastic
life. The universal existence of these pathogenic
conditions is alone sufficient to account for the rapid
diffusion and frightful mortality of contagious dis-
eases. Leprosy had under the filthy habits and pro-
miscuous intercourse of the populations of the
Middle Ages assumed a character of extraordinary
virulence. France, at that time certainly not the least
civilized country of Europe, furnishes a suggestive
instance of the prevalence and disastrous effects of
this incurable disorder. From the eleventh to the
fourteenth century, there was not a village scarcely
a hamlet without its lazar-house ; the streets of great
cities swarmed with leprous beggars in every stage
of loathsome deformity; and in 1250 there were
known to be two thousand leper-asylums in that king-
dom, there were nineteen thousand in Europe. The
result of the disregard of sanitary precautions, and
the deplorable lack of medical knowledge, is also
established by the fatality of great epidemics, pre-
viously mentioned. Such was the awful penalty
entailed by hatred of learning, personal neglect, and
public indifference to the laws of health, conditions
sedulously maintained by the policy of the papal
system, whose ministers collected immense revenues
from shrines, relics, amulets, and the endless para-
phernalia of superstition, and discouraged, by all the
insidious arts of their profession, every rational
method for the prevention and treatment of disease.
In the Orient, on the other hand, great progress
had early been made in the various branches of the
Moorish Empire in Europe 505
healing art. The number of Arab physicians was
prodigious. An entire volume of the biographical
work of Abu-Osaibah is taken up with their names.
In the city of Bagdad, at one time during the eleventh
century, there were nearly nine hundred. The Nes-
torian school of Djondisabour had already, in the
sixth century, sent forth many eminent practitioners.
Some of these, in search of more extensive knowledge,
travelled in India; at least one of them, Harets-Ibn-
Keladah, an Arab, established himself at Mecca.
From him Mohammed, who was his friend, obtained
something more than the rudiments of medicine, an
accomplishment which contributed greatly to his suc-
cess. The Prophet attended the sick, gave consulta-
tions, and imparted his learning to his wives. He
recognized the paramount importance of hygiene, and
inculcated its maxims upon every occasion. " God
has not caused a single disease to descend upon men
without providing a remedy," "Diet is the principle
of cure, and intemperance the source of all physical
ills," were some of the aphoristical sayings whose
truth he constantly impressed upon his followers.
The renowned Khalif Al-Mamun was the first Mos-
lem prince to impart a decided impulse to the study
of scientific medicine. To Bagdad, his capital, which
he had named the City of Peace, he attracted, by the
promise of magnificent rewards, the chief professors
of the medical school of Djondisabour. The fact that
they were Christians was in the eyes of that great
monarch no impediment to their employment or pro-
motion. Under their intelligent direction colleges
and dispensaries were established. The first hospital
of which history makes mention was founded at Bag-
dad. The world was diligently explored for medical
treatises of every description. The Greek authors
were rendered into Arabic by a body of translators
especially employed for that purpose. The vast im-
506 History of the
portance of this intellectual movement, guided by the
spirit of scientific inquiry whose conclusions were
based on results obtained by observation and experi-
ment, is disclosed by the great minds it produced and
through the influence it exerted on other nations.
In medicine, as in all other sciences, the Spanish
Arabs enjoyed peculiar advantages. The accumu-
lated wisdom of the Alexandrian School was theirs
by right of conquest. The learning, the inventions,
and the methods of the great colleges of Djondisa-
bour, of Bagdad, of Cairo, of Damascus, were theirs
by appropriation or inheritance. Many of
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