SPAIN UNDER ABDURRAHMAN III.
Abdurrahman III., Annasir Lidinillah (912-961), may be looked upon as the Solomon of the Spanish Sultans. Succeeding to the throne when quite a youth, to the exclusion of his uncles, the sons of the late Sultan, he found the country torn by innumerable factions, and the king's power openly defied by rebels, Arab, Berber, and Christian. In person, and through his generals, he put down all these rebels, and though not uniformly successful against the Christians in the North, yet he defeated them in a series of great engagements.[1] He welded all the discordant elements under his rule into one great whole,[2] thereby giving the Arab domination in Spain another lease of life. In 929 he took the title of Amir al Mumenin, or Commander of the Faithful. His alliance was sought by the Emperor of the East,[3] and he treated on equal terms with the Emperor of Germany and the King of France. To this great king, with more truth than to his namesake Abdurrahman II., may be applied the words of Miss Yonge:—[4]
"He was of that type of Eastern monarch, that seems moulded on the character of Solomon—large-hearted, wise, magnificent, tolerant, and peaceful. He was as great a contrast to the stern, ascetic, narrow-minded, but earnest Alfonso or Ramiro, as were the exquisite horse-shoe arches, filagree stonework lattices, inlaid jewellery of marble pavements, and slender minarets, to their dark vault-like, low-browed churches, and solid castles built out of hard unmanageable granite."
[1] Mutonia (918); Calaborra; Vale de Junqueras (921).
[2] Dozy, ii. 351, from an Arab writer.
[3] A very interesting account of this embassy from Constantine VII. (947) is given in Al Makkari, ii. 137, from Ibn Khaldun.—-See Conde, i. 442.
[4] P. 57.
We find in this king none of that suspicious jealousy which we saw in Mohammed, even though Omar, the arch rebel, and Christian renegade, still held out at Bobastro, when he ascended the throne; and his treatment of Christians was, throughout his reign, tolerant and politic.
But his claims in this respect will be best seen from a very interesting fragment that has come down to our own times, describing the embassy of a certain John of Gorz, a monk from an abbey near Metz, who carried letters from Otho, emperor of Germany, to the Spanish Sultan.[1]
In 950 Abdurrahman had sent an embassy to the emperor. A bishop who had been at the head of this embassy died, and this seems to have caused a delay in the answer. As the Khalif's letter contained blasphemies against Christ, it was determined to write a reply in the king's name, such as might perhaps convince Abdurrahman of the error of his ways. A certain bishop, Adalbero, was appointed to be at the head of the return embassy,[2] and he asks the abbot of the monastery of Gorz to give him two assistants. Two are chosen, but one of these quarrels with his superior, and is expelled from the body; whereupon John offers himself as a substitute. The abbot only gives his consent to John's going with great reluctance, knowing that the young monk had an ardent longing to be a martyr, if he could only get the opportunity.
[1] See "Vita Johannis Abbatis Gorziensis," 973, by John, Abbot of Arnulph. "Migne," vol. cxxxvii., pp. 239-310.
[2] In 953.
Going through Lyons, and by ship to Barcelona, the ambassadors reached the frontier town, Tortosa, and at last got to Cordova, where they were assigned a house two miles from the palace, and, though well entertained, were informed, to their dismay, that, as the Moorish ambassadors had been made to wait three years for an answer, Otho's messengers would have to wait nine years. Moreover, they now discovered that the king had been already apprised of the contents of the letter, which Otho had sent, by a comrade of the late ambassador-bishop, whom John and his companions had taken with them to Barcelona.
The king employs Hasdai, a Jew, as his go-between; who warns them not to divulge the contents of the letter, as it would make them liable to punishment; for the letter contained what Moslems would consider blasphemy against their Prophet. Soon after this John, the Bishop of Cordova, is sent to them to suggest that they should carry their gifts to the king, and say nothing of the letter. But John of Gorz stoutly refused to do this, saying that the delivery of the letter was his chief duty, and that as Abdurrahman had begun by reviling Christ, he must not be surprised at Otho's retaliating against Mohammed. However, John of Cordova begs him to remember the position in which the Christians stood, viz., under Pagan rule. "We are forbidden," he said, "by the apostle to resist the powers that be. In our calamity, we have this one consolation, we are allowed to observe our own laws and rites, and our rulers, if they see us diligent in our religion, honour us, cherish us, and delight in our society, while they abhor the Jews. As our religion, then, suffers no harm at their hands, let us obey the Moslems in other things." The bishop was anxious, therefore, that the letter should be suppressed, as calculated to do harm to the Christian community, and no good to Otho. His advice, however, fell on deaf ears. The monk of Gorz was resolved on doing what he deemed his plain duty; nor was he content to forego his chance of martyrdom, though his action might entail disastrous consequences on the Christians subject to the Moors. He taunted the bishop with giving his advice from a fear of man. "Better die of hunger than eat the salt of unbelievers;" and expressed horror at the fact that the bishop was circumcised, and also abstained from certain meats in deference to Moslem scruples. It was in vain that the bishop pointed out that otherwise they could not live with the Saracens.
John of Gorz now expressed his intention of delivering the letter forthwith; but the king denied the ambassadors an audience, leaving them to themselves for six or seven weeks. Early in 955, however, the king sent to them, and asked if they held firm to their previous resolve, and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, he threatened all the Christians in his dominions with loss of privileges and even death. John of Gorz merely answers that the guilt would be on the king's head; but the latter is persuaded to milder counsels by his advisers, who remind him of Otho's power, and the certainty that he would interfere in favour of his ambassadors.
John of Gorz now proposes the only practicable course, that Abdurrahman should send a fresh embassy to Otho and ask for instructions for his ambassadors under the circumstances. Recemundus,[1] a Christian, offers to go as ambassador, if a vacant bishopric be given him as a reward. He sets out and reaches Gorz in February 956. Otho gives him a fresh letter, with instructions to suppress the former one, to conclude an alliance with the Sultan, and make an arrangement with him for putting down the brigands who infested the marches.
[1] De Gayangos, on Al Makkari, ii. p. 464, identifies him with Rabi, a bishop mentioned as an ambassador of Abdurrahman III. in Al Makkari, i. 236, ii. 139; but Rabi may have been the bishop who died during the embassy to Otho. Recemundus, as De Gayangos (1.1.) says, was a katib or clerk of the palace.
Leaving Gorz with Dudo, the emperor's legate, on March 30, he reached Cordova on June 1st, but the Sultan declined to receive the second comers till he had received the earlier embassy. So, after three years semi-captivity, John is released, and told to prepare himself for the king's presence by shaving, washing, and putting on new apparel. He declines to go in any otherwise than he is; and even when the king, thinking his refusal due to poverty, sends him a sum of money, the monk accepts the gift and distributes it to the poor, but says he will only see the king as a poor monk. The king good-naturedly said: "Let him come as he likes." On June 21, 956, the ambassadors were conducted to the king's presence along a road thronged with sight-seers. The steps of the palace were laid down with tapestry, and a guard of honour lined both sides of the approach. On John's entrance, the king, as a great mark of distinction, gave him his open palm to kiss, and beckoned him to a seat near his own couch. After a silence Abdurrahman apologised to the monk for the long delay which he had been obliged to impose on the embassy, and which was in no sense due to disrespect for John himself, whose virtue and wisdom he could not but acknowledge. As a proof that this was no mere empty compliment, the king expressed his readiness to give him whatever he asked. John's wrath vanishes at these gracious words, and they talk amicably together. But when the monk asks leave to depart Abdurrahman says:—"After waiting so long to see one another, shall we part so soon?" He suggests that they should have at least three interviews. At their next meeting they discourse on the respective power of the empires of Otho and the Khalif himself; and the Sultan, taught by the experience of Spain, points out the unwisdom of allowing feudal subjects to become too powerful, by dividing kingdoms between them.
So ends this unique and interesting fragment, which throws so pleasant a light on the character and the Court of the greatest of Spanish Sultans, and proves that the Christians at that time enjoyed considerable freedom, and even honour, at the hands of the Moslem Government.
The reason why the king was unwilling to receive the first letter brought by John was not so much because he was reluctant to read words against Mohammed, as because he would by so doing render himself liable to the penalty of death, which was ordained by law to any Moslem—king or slave—who listened to abuse of the Prophet without exacting summary vengeance from the blasphemer. But—and here was the king's dilemma—he could not punish the ambassadors without incurring the enmity of Otho. The only possible alternative was that suggested by John, that Otho should be asked to withdraw the objectionable letter, without the Sultan having officially read it, and this Abdurrahman adopted. The moderation of the king is conspicuous throughout, for we must regard the threat against the Christians as merely a threat, never really intended to be put into execution.
In showing tolerance towards their Christian subjects, the Spanish khalifs might be thought to have forgotten the traditions of Islam; but, as a matter of fact, Mohammed seems to have been very inconsistent in his views with regard to Christians and Jews at different times of his career, and while he enjoined the necessity of Holy Wars,[1] he permitted the people of the book to be admitted to tribute.[2] In one passage he even seems to allow the possibility of salvation to Jews, Christians, and Sabians: "Verily they who believe, and those who Judaize, and the Sabians, and the Christians—whoever of these believeth in God and the last day, and doeth that which is right—there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved."[3] And there is one remarkable text to find in the mouth of Mohammed, "Let there be no violence in religion." [4]
Moreover, some of the best Mohammedan rulers that have ever lived upheld the same principle of toleration. Abbas II., one of the Persian Sufis, is reported to have said: "It is for God, not for me, to judge of men's consciences, and I will never interfere with what belongs to the tribunal of the great Creator and Lord of the Universe."[5] Again, Akbar, one of the greatest kings that ever lived, followed in practice the principle thus expressed by his minister, Abul Fazl: "Persecution after all defeats its own ends; it obliges men to conceal their opinions, but produces no change in them."[6] Noble sentiments surely, and such as we should expect from followers of Christ rather than of Mohammed!
[1] Tradition attributes even stronger approval of Holy Wars to Mohammed than can be found in the Koran,—e.g., "The sword is the key of Paradise and Hell. A drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, are of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whoever falls in battle against the infidel, his sins are forgiven him."
[2] Koran, xlvii., ad init.
[3] Koran, v., v. 73. This may be said in the general sense of Acts x. 35.
[4] Koran, ii., v. 258.
[5] See Freeman's "Saracens," p. 230; from Malcolm's "Persia," i. p 583.
[6] Ibid., from "Ayeen Akbery," p. 11.
Yet far too often have portions of the Christian Church been conspicuous for intolerance rather than tolerance. Alcuin, indeed, does say in his letter to Aquila, Bishop of Winchester, that he does not approve of punishing heresy with death, because God, by the mouth of His prophet, had said: "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;"[1] but Alcuin was a man of unusual mildness and sweet reasonableness, as his letters to Felix and Elipandus testify. On the other hand, there were too many frantic bigots in the Church, like Arnold of Citeaux, whose impious words, in connection with the massacre of Albigensians, are not likely to be forgotten—"Slay all; God will know His own."
In fact, so opposed did the Christian spirit come to be to the Mohammedan in this respect, that their toleration was made a principal argument against the Moors by the Archbishop of Valencia in his memorial to Philip III. at the end of the sixteenth century.[2]
A very melancholy instance of bigotry and intolerance is afforded by Bernard, a French monk, who was made Archbishop of Toledo by Alfonso, on the capture of that city in 1085. By the treaty of capitulation certain mosques had been expressly reserved to the Moslems, just in the same way as certain churches had been reserved for the Christians by Musa in 712. But Bernard, by way of showing his zeal in the cause of God, in defiance of the king's plighted word, chose to perform mass in the chief mosque. Alfonso was furiously angry when he heard of his archbishop's proceedings, but the Moslems, with wonderful forbearance, seeing that the king had not authorised Bernard's outrageous conduct, came forward of their own accord and begged him to pardon the act, and even voluntarily surrendered their mosque.[3]
Not only were the Christians allowed to practise their religion, but even, as we have seen above, encouraged in it.[4] Almanzor, the champion of Islam, allowed his Christian servants to rest on Sundays. Christians in every reign held high posts at court[5] and throughout the land, and not only timeserving Christians but men like Samson and Leovigild, who were known to sympathise with the party of zealots, were employed by the king to write letters to, and negotiate with, the neighbouring kings. This was no doubt due to their general trustworthiness, their quickness, and their knowledge of Arabic as well as Latin.
[1] Ezekiel xxxiii. 11.
[2] Prescott, "Ferd. and Isab.," p. 376, n.
[3] Mariana, ix. 10.
[4] See p. 57. Recent history affords a similar instance from the Christian side. See "Gordon in Central Africa," p. 54—"I have made them make a mosque, and keep the Ramadhan." Ibid., p. 249, "I had the mosque cleared out and restored for worship, and endowed the priests and crier, and had a great ceremony at the opening of it.... They blessed me and cursed Zebehr Pasha who took the mosque from them. To me it appears that the Mussulman worships God as well as I do, and is as acceptable, if sincere, as any Christian."
[5] Such as secretary, farmer of taxes, or even prime minister.
Among the great functionaries of state there was one who held the office of Kitabatu-dh-dhimam, which, being interpreted, is "the office of protection." The Christians and Jews were under his general jurisdiction, and were called "the people of the protection."[1] But besides this Arab "Secretary of State for the Christians," the latter had their own counts—a relic of the Gothic system—who, however, did not always stand up for their interests.[2] There were also Christian censors,[3] but it is not known what position they held in the State.
The young Christian cadets of noble birth were brought up at Court, and numbers of Sclavonian Christians served in the king's bodyguard, of whom under Hakem I. (796-822) there were 2000.[4]
[1] Al Makk., i. p. 103; and De Gayangos' note, p. 398.
[2] E.g.. Servandus. Cp. also Cyprianus.
[3] See above, p. 49.
[4] Conde, i. p. 260.
All things considered, it is a matter for surprise that these two peoples, so unlike in race, habits, prejudices, and religion, lived so comparatively quietly side by side in spite of a perpetual state of warfare between the Arabs and the Christians in the North, which tended to keep alive the animosities of the two races in that part of Spain which was under Mohammedan rule.[1] Moreover, the pride of race was very strong in the pure-blooded Arabs. Thus the poet Said ibn Djoud, in a poem called the "battle of the town" (Polei), boasts that the conquerors are of the pure race of Adnan and Kahtan, without any foreign admixture; while he calls the defeated Spaniards miscreants, followers of a false faith,[2] sons of the pale-faces. The haughty Arabs, in fact, were too prone to look upon all the Spaniards, both renegades and Christians, as mere canaille.[3]
But, in spite of this, the races to a certain extent amalgamated; and Eulogius endeavours to prove that, but for the outbreak of fanaticism in the middle of the ninth century, this amalgamation would have had serious results for Christianity in Spain.[4]
The Arabs did not disdain to seek the alliance of the free Christian States, nor were the latter averse from doing the same, when political occasion demanded it. As early as 798 the Walis of the frontier cities sought to make themselves independent by what the Arab writer describes as "vile policy and unworthy acts," i.e., by seeking the friendship of the Christian kings;[5] and there are many instances of these kings asking aid, even servilely, from Arab princes.[6]
[1] Dozy, ii. 108, puts the distinction between the races very forcibly:—"Ce peuple qui joignait à une gaité franche et vive une sensualité raffinée devait inspirer aux prêtres, qui aimaient les retraites éternelles et profondes, les grands renoncéments et les terribles expiations, une répugnance extrême et invincible."
[2] Dozy, ii. 223.
[3] "C'était leur terme consacrée." Dozy, ii. 211.
[4] "Heu pro dolor! quia esse sub Gentibus delicias computamus, iugumque cum infidelibus ducere non renitimur. Et inde ex cotidiano usu illorum sacrilegiis plerumque utimur et magis ipsorum contubernia affectamus."—Eul., "Doc. Martyr," sec. 18.
[5] Conde, i. 244: "Chron. Alb.," vi. sec. 58: "Chron. Lib.," sec. 30.
[6] Al Makkari, ii. 161, Ordono the Bad and Hakem II.
Again, as was inevitable from the nature of the case, intermarriages were common between the two races. The example was early set by the widow of Roderic, the last Gothic king, marrying Abdulaziz, son of Musa. The sons of Witiza also married Arab women, and Sarah, the daughter of one of these princes, was the progenetrix of a noble family of Arabs, one of her descendants being the historian, Ibn al Kuttiya, which means son of the Gothic princess.[1] Abdurrahman Anassir, the greatest of all the Spanish Sultans, was the son of a Christian slave, named Maria,[2] and the mighty Almanzor had for grandmother the daughter of a renegade Christian.[3] These are some instances, but it is not necessary to dwell on what was so common an occurrence as intermarriage between the peoples, and is forbidden neither by the Koran,[4] nor by the Bible.
However, there is one point in this connection which deserves a more particular notice. The intermingling of the races has been supposed to have been facilitated in part by the yearly tribute of 100 maidens paid by the northern kings to the earlier Arab Sultans. Modern historians mostly throw doubt upon the story, saying that of the early historians none mention it, and that the Arabs do not even allude to it.[5] But if Conde is to be trusted, an Arab writer does speak of it, as of a thing well known. In a letter of Omar[6] ibn Alaftas Almudafar, King of Algarve, to Alfonso VI., in 1086, occur the words:—"Do thou remember the time of Mohammed Almanzor, and bring to thy mind those treaties wherein thy forefathers offered him the homage even of their own daughters, and sent him those damsels in tribute even to the land of our rule."
[1] Al Makkari, ii. 15, 22, and De Gayangos' note, p. 454.
[2] Conde, i. 364.
[3] Dozy, iii. 124.
[4] Koran, v. 5:—"Ye are allowed to marry free women of those that have received the Scriptures before you."
[5] Dunham, ii. 131: Romey's "Histoire d'Espagne," iii. 276.
[6] Conde, ii. 238: Al Makkari, ii. 256, calls him Omar ibn Mohammed etc ibn Alafthas Almutawakkel, King of Badajos.
The maiden tribute is the subject of several ancient ballads by the Christian Spaniards. The following are two verses from one of these:—
"For he who gives the Moorish king a hundred maids of Spain
Each year when in the season the day comes round again;
If he be not a heathen he swells the heathen's train—
'Twere better burn a kingdom than suffer such disdain!
"If the Moslems must have tribute, make men your tribute-money,
Send idle drones to tease them within their hives of honey;
For, when 'tis paid with maidens, from every maid there spring
Some five or six strong soldiers to serve the Moorish king."[1]
Southey also says that the only old Portuguese ballad known to him was on this subject. The evidence, then, of the ballads is strong for a fact of this kind, telling, too, as it does, so much against the writers of the ballads.[2]
As to the Christian chroniclers, it is quite true that we find no mention of this tribute in the history of Sebastian of Salamanca and the Chronicle of Albeldum, but there is a direct allusion to it in a document included in the collection of Florez.[3] "Our ancestors," says Ramiro, "the kings of the land—we blush to record it—to free themselves from the raids of the Saracens, consented to pay them yearly a shameful tribute of a hundred maidens distinguished for their beauty, fifty of noble birth, and fifty from the people." It was to put an end to this nefarious tribute that Ramiro now ordered a levy en masse. This, if the document is genuine (and Florez gives no hint to the contrary), is good evidence for the fact. Many succeeding writers mention it. Lucas of Tuy[4] says that Ramiro was asked for the tribute in 842. Johannes Vasaeus[5] speaks of it, as also Alfonso, Bishop of Burgos;[6] and lastly, Rodrigo of Toledo[7] says that Mauregatus (783-788), having obtained the throne of Leon by Saracen help, agreed to send this tribute yearly.
On the whole, then, the evidence is in favour of the maiden tribute being no myth, but of its having been regularly paid for more than fifty years. Most of these Christian maidens probably embraced the religion of their husbands, but in some cases they no doubt converted them to their own faith.
From different causes, some of which will be mentioned elsewhere, conversions were frequent from one religion to the other. Motives of worldly interest naturally caused the balance in these to fall very much against the Christians, but as the Mohammedan power declined the opposite was the case. Though voluntary apostasy was, and is, unpardonable, Mohammed seems to have made allowances for those who apostatized under compulsion; for when one of his followers, Ammar ibn Yaser, being tortured by the Koreish, renounced his belief in God and in Mohammed's mission, but afterwards came weeping to the Prophet, Mohammed received him kindly, and, wiping his eyes, said: "What fault was it of thine, if they forced thee?"[8]
[1] Lockhart.
[2] Unless the ballads were written later than 1250—i.e., after Rodrigo of Toledo had made the story known by his history.
[3] "Espana Sagrada," xix. 329—"Privilegiam quod dicitur votoram, anno 844 a rege Ranemiro I., ecclesiae B. Jacobi concessae."
[4] Lucas Tudensis, "Chronicon Mundi," bk. iv.
[5] "Hispaniae Chronicon," 783 A.D.
[6] "Anacephalaiosis," sec. 51.
[7] III. c. 7.
[8] Koran, xvi. ver. 109, Sale's note.