History of the Moors of Spain

by Florian

Usurpers of momentary authority followed. Jalmar-ben-Mohammed was the last in order. His death terminated the empire of the Caliphs {84} of the West, which had been possessed by the dynasty of the Ommiades for the period of three centuries, A.D. 1027, Heg. 416.

With the extinction of this line of princes vanished the power and the glory of Cordova.

The governors of the different cities, who had hitherto been the vassals of the court of Cordova, profiting by the anarchy that prevailed, erected themselves into independent sovereigns—That city was therefore no longer the capital of a kingdom, though it still retained the religious supremacy which it derived from its mosque.

Enfeebled by divisions and subjected to such diversity of rule, the Mussulmans were no longer able successfully to resist the encroachments of the Spaniards. The Third Epoch of their history, therefore, will present nothing but a narrative of their rapid decline.

[1] See Note A, page 208.

[2] The dynasty of the Ommiades, whose capital, as M. Florian informs us, was Damascus, is most familiarly known in history as that of the Caliphs of Syria; and the Abbassides, who succeeded them upon the throne of Islam, are usually designated as the Caliphs of Bagdad, which city they built, and there established the seat of their regal power and magnificence. It may be observed, in connexion with this subject, that though the authority of the Caliphs of Damascus continued to be disputed and resisted after the death of Ali, yet with that event terminated the temporary division of the civil and sacerdotal power which had been at first occasioned by their usurpation of sovereignty. The political supremacy of the party of Ali ceased with his existence, and the authority that had belonged to the immediate successors of Mohammed long continued to centre in the family of the Ommiade princes.—Trans.

[3] See Note B, page 209.

[4] A.D. 752, Heg. 134.

[5] See Note C, page 209.

[6] It was under the government of the Abbassides that the empire of the East possessed that superiority in wealth, magnificence, and learning for which it was once so celebrated. Under the sway of the Caliphs of Bagdad, the Mohammedans became as much renowned for their attainments in the higher branches of science as in the elegant and useful arts. To them the civilized world is indebted for the revival of the exact and physical sciences, and the discovery or restoration of most of the arts that afterward lent such beneficial aid to the progress of European literature and refinement. The far-famed capital of the Abbassides was adorned with every attraction that the most unbounded wealth could secure, or the most consummate art perfect. There taste and power had combined exquisite luxury with unparalleled splendour, and there all that imagination could suggest to fascinate the senses or enrapture the mind, was realized. These princes of Islam, by their unbounded liberality, attracted the learning and genius of other countries to their brilliant court, several of them were the ardent lovers of science as well as the munificent patrons of its devotees. Thus Bagdad became the favoured and genial home of letters and the arts; and luxury and the pursuit of pleasure were ennobled by a graceful union with the more elevated enjoyments of cultivated intellect and refined taste. Nor were these beneficent influences confined to the Mohammedan court, or to the period of time when they were so powerfully exercised. The Moslem sovereigns gave laws to a wide realm in arts as well as arms; and if the whole of Europe did not acknowledge their political superiority, in the world of science their supremacy was everywhere undisputed. That, like the gradually enlarging circles made by a pebble thrown into calm water, continued to spread farther and farther, until it reached the most distant shores, and communicated a generous impulse to nations long sunk in intellectual night.