[255] No one can gaze upon the great castle and palace of the Alhambra, which was built for the Moorish kings, without realizing what a high degree of culture the Moors had attained. Its beautiful and impressive arcades, its magnificent courts, and the delicate tracery of its arches represent the highest achievement of Arabic architecture.
[256] See above, pp. [224–225].
[258] It will be remembered that the popes, in their long struggle with Frederick II and the Hohenstaufens, finally called in Charles of Anjou, the brother of St. Louis, and gave to him both Naples and Sicily. See above, p. 185. Sicily revolted in 1282 and was united with the kingdom of Aragon, which still held it when Charles V came to the Spanish throne. The older branch of the house of Anjou died out in 1435 and Naples was conquered by the king of Aragon, and was still in his family when Charles VIII undertook his Italian expedition. The younger branch of the house of Anjou had never reigned in Naples, but its members were careful to retain their asserted title to it, and, upon the death of their last representative, this title was transferred to Louis XI. He, however, prudently refused to attempt to oust the Aragonese usurpers, as he had quite enough to do at home.
[260] More important for France than the arrangements mentioned above was the so-called Concordat, or agreement, between Francis and the pope in regard to the selection of the French prelates. Francis was given the privilege of appointing the archbishops, bishops, and abbots, and in this way it came about that he and his successors had many rich offices to grant to their courtiers and favorites. He agreed in return that the pope should receive a part of the first year's revenue from the more important offices in the Church of France. The pope was, moreover, thereafter to be regarded as superior to a council, a doctrine which had been denied by the French monarchs since the Council of Basel. The arrangements of the Concordat of 1516 were maintained down to the French Revolution.
[261] See below, p. [428–429].
[262] The Catholic Church, on the other hand, held that certain important teachings, institutions, and ceremonies, although not expressly mentioned in the Bible, were nevertheless sanctioned by "tradition." That is, they had been handed down orally from Christ and his apostles as a sacred heritage to the Church, and like the Bible were to be received as from God. See [Readings], Chapter XXIV.
[263] For the origin of these and of the other ecclesiastical states of Germany, see above, p. [156].