With each year, with every season even, the Christian banners continued to move steadily southward. The resources of the divided Moslem empire could no longer oppose a concerted resistance to their advance. The most powerful Moorish princes of the Peninsula were already the tributaries of Ferdinand. Coimbra had been taken, and nearly all of what is included within the limits of modern Portugal was in his hands. Vast districts of the subjugated territory were systematically depopulated by enforced emigration. The inhabitants of the captured cities were in many instances also driven into exile, and where a prolonged resistance had exasperated the conquerors, the lands, the effects, and the seraglios of the wealthiest citizens were seized, often in infringement of the terms of capitulation. Establishing themselves in their new possessions, the rude cavaliers of Castile and the Asturias carried the boisterous manners and brutal tastes of the swineherd and the mountaineer into the splendid abodes of Moorish art and luxury.
The states of Valencia and Malaga, owing to the political imbecility of their rulers, had descended to a position greatly inferior to that to which they were entitled by reason of their commercial and agricultural resources. In the division of the khalifate, Valencia had been retained by Abd-al-Aziz, the grandson of Al-Mansur, who, during the subsequent disturbances, was the acknowledged head of the Amiride faction. Gifted with rare talents for administration and command, his indolence and love of pleasure counteracted these great natural advantages, and his son, Abd-al-Melik, who succeeded him, possessed all his indisposition to exertion, without his abilities. The city of Valencia, invested by Ferdinand, proved too strong for his efforts, but by a feigned retreat he lured the garrison and the citizens outside the walls and into an ambuscade. The delightful climate of that province, the garden of Andalusia, has never been propitious to the creation of a race of warriors, and the effeminate Valencians, who had donned their holiday attire in expectation of a triumph, expired almost without resistance under the weapons of the Christian knights. Resuming the siege, Ferdinand was attacked by illness, and soon after returned to Leon to die. His adversary Motadhid, whose crafty and unscrupulous policy had founded upon the ruins of the khalifate a kingdom more imposing in its dimensions than remarkable for its military strength, soon followed him to the grave.
Malaga, governed by the Edrisites, was long a centre of Berber influence. Its lords, also enervated by the temptations of a tropical climate, to the disgust of their martial followers, suffered their lives to pass in inglorious ease until their domain was finally absorbed by the growing power of Granada.
Attracted by the fame of a crusade, by the hope of eternal salvation, and by the more immediate prospect of worldly advantage, crowds of European adventurers now poured into the Peninsula. Among these a body of Normans, under William de Montreuil, laid siege to Barbastro, a populous frontier town of Aragon. Their valor eventually carried the day, and after a gallant defence the place was surrendered under articles of capitulation. Scarcely had the Normans entered, before these were repudiated; the garrison was surrounded and killed; six thousand of the citizens were massacred outside the walls, and the remainder were doomed to slavery. The atrocities practised by these Christian barbarians seem incredible. Such was the amount of booty, that an inferior officer is said to have received as his share five hundred loads of merchandise and fifteen hundred maidens. In the general division, as was customary, the master with his household and possessions were delivered to the fortunate soldier, who at once proceeded, by ingenious tortures, to insult the distress of his victim and inflict upon him exquisite pain in order to compel the discovery of hidden treasure. The female members of his family were violated in his presence. His body was plunged into boiling oil. He was hacked with swords and battle-axes and his limbs were slowly wasted by fire. The inhumanities which attended the capture of Barbastro are hardly paralleled in any of the bloody annals which recount the crusading exploits of Christian Europe.
During the period of universal anarchy that succeeded the disruption of the khalifate, it is only the larger principalities which, either on account of greater political influence or more advanced conditions of civilization, are worthy of the notice of the historian. An innumerable number of insignificant states arose upon the ruins of that splendid monarchy. Every wali of a district, every governor of a city, aspired to the pomp and consequence of an independent sovereign. A few of these escaped the ruin which overwhelmed their less fortunate countrymen. Others were conquered by the Andalusian princes. The domain of others was forcibly incorporated into the fast-growing monarchy of Castile. With all war was the rule and peace the exception. In the North, the Africans, banished thither by the khalifs for their turbulence and encouraged by the proximity of the Christians whose alliance had often encouraged them to defy the edicts of the court of Cordova, had long been practically independent. In the South, Berber adventurers, incited by the success of Al-Mansur, indulged unmolested their natural propensity to robbery and murder. In Valencia and Granada, the Slaves, whose rapacity was under the early khalifs the reproach of the government, predominated in numbers, wealth, and in influence. In the provinces of Estremadura and the Algarves, the Arabs maintained their ancient and hereditary pride and insubordination. None of these factions were united under a single head. They were split up into a score of bodies, acknowledging temporarily the authority of some petty chieftain, and entertaining as much animosity against their neighbors as they cherished towards their national enemies. The mutual jealousies of these obscure rulers were sedulously inflamed by the politic Christians, who never refused to promote, by supplies of men and money, the quarrels which were constantly undermining the Moslem power in the Peninsula.
Thus political demoralization, impelled both by internal discord and foreign interference, went steadily on. National unity was unknown to the Arabs, with whom the largest measure of personal liberty was the rule of public as well as of private life. That principle of cohesion which binds communities together by the ties of common interest was not recognized in a society where each man considered he had an inalienable right, based upon immemorial prescription and the traditions of the Desert, to plunder his neighbor. Even the greatest of the Ommeyade khalifs were hated by the people. Their lives were never safe. Their persons were constantly guarded by armed foreigners,—Christian Mamelukes, Berber mercenaries, African eunuchs. Fear alone maintained their authority. Their subjects were ignorant of loyalty, patriotism, public spirit, or national honor. The victories of these princes might dazzle the populace. Their liberality might for the moment secure the attachment of the army. The erection of magnificent houses of worship might elicit the applause of the devout; but the possession of the most noble qualities availed nothing in the hour of disaster. The prestige of a distinguished name, the memory of splendid exploits, the sight of grand architectural monuments, the omnipresent culture of a great people, were trifles in the eyes of the Arab bent on blood-revenge, or of the Berber savage with the prospect of the booty of a palace like that of the Medina-al-Zahrâ before him. The rottenness of the Moslem system was disclosed by the death of Al-Mansur. He was the most illustrious captain who ever led the armies of Islam to battle. He was the greatest potentate in Europe. In a quarter of a century of constant warfare no reverses had ever diminished his popularity or tarnished his renown. To all appearances, his power, nominally the power of the khalifate, was established upon an enduring and impregnable basis. Yet he was hardly in his grave before the imposing fabric of the Moorish empire crumbled into dust, and with it disappeared forever the grandeur, the glory, and the civilization of three hundred eventful years.
CHAPTER XVII
WARS WITH THE CHRISTIANS, THE ALMORAVIDES
1044–1121
Dissensions in Castile—Alfonso the Guest of the Emir of Toledo—Civilization of that Moorish Capital—Motamid, Prince of Seville—His Prodigality—-Valencia and Murcia become subject to Mamun—Motamid takes Seville—Military Genius of Alfonso VI.—The Famous Game of Chess—Siege of Toledo—Capitulation of that City—Depredations of Bands of Outlaws—Danger and Distress of the Moslems—Rise of the Almoravides—Their Fanaticism and Prowess—They conquer Northern Africa—The Spanish Emirs appeal to Yusuf—He crosses the Strait—Rout of the Christians at Zallaca—Second Expedition of Yusuf—His Popularity—He claims the Sovereignty of the Peninsula—The Cid: His Character and His Exploits—He serves the Emir of Saragossa—He obtains Control of Valencia—Revolt and Siege of that City—Cruelties of the Cid—Death of Yusuf—Greatness of the Almoravide Empire—Accession of Ali—Demoralization of the Conquerors.
The temporary union of the Christian powers under Ferdinand I., which had so effectually demonstrated the weakness of the Moorish states of the Peninsula and had conferred such distinction on the Castilian arms, was followed by a series of domestic misfortunes culminating in civil war, seriously threatening the stability of the newly founded kingdom, and affording the Moslems an opportunity for recuperation by which they unfortunately had no longer either the energy or the capacity to profit. Ferdinand’s impolitic testamentary disposition of his dominions among his children indicated an amiable weakness, which, while it might be deserving of praise in a private individual, was discreditable to the experience and political foresight of a sovereign. With the public sanction of the nobles, his kingdom was divided into three portions, of which his son Sancho received Castile and a part of what is now Aragon; Alfonso, Leon and the Asturias; and Garcia, Galicia and the Portuguese conquests. To his daughters, Urraca and Elvira, were assigned respectively the cities of Zamora and Toro. As was inevitable, ambition and discontent with this arrangement eventually produced consequences fatal to the interests of the crown. Hostilities first broke out between Sancho and Alfonso with indecisive results. Then they mutually agreed to stake their kingdoms on the result of a single battle. Fortune favored the cause of Alfonso, and, with a clemency unusual in that age, his followers were not permitted even to pursue the routed Castilians, who, by the conditions of the compact, had become the subjects of the victor.
At this time first appears in history the name of a personage whose exploits, for the most part fabulous, have acquired for him a renown not inferior to that enjoyed by the demigods of antiquity,—Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, popularly known as the Cid and the Campeador. His origin was illustrious, for he could trace his lineage to one of the noblest houses of Castile, one of whose members more than a century before had stood high in the councils of the nation, while his own courage and address had been conspicuous in the contests recently inaugurated by the rival aspirants for supremacy, as well as in campaigns against the infidel. He was one of the most trusted adherents of Sancho, and occupied the responsible position of second in command in the Castilian army. His unprincipled adroitness now revived by an outrageous violation of faith the desperate fortunes of his sovereign. The soldiers of Sancho, no longer apprehensive of the carnage usually consequent upon defeat, were soon again united under their standards. At the suggestion of Rodrigo, the Leonese army was attacked at daybreak; their camp was stormed; a dreadful massacre avenged the disaster of the preceding day and punished the negligence unpardonable in the vicinity of an enemy which had rendered such a catastrophe possible. Alfonso fled to the neighboring cathedral of Carrion; but the privilege of sanctuary was little considered in those times, especially when it conflicted with important political interests; and the King of Leon, having been seized, in defiance of the anathemas of the clergy, at the very altar, was carried in chains to Burgos. His life would have been sacrificed had he not unwillingly consented to receive the tonsure and assume the monastic habit, an obligation which, according to the institutions of the kingdom inherited from the ancient Gothic polity, ever after incapacitated him from becoming a candidate for the royal dignity. Becoming weary of the restraints of conventual discipline, which were even more rigidly enforced than usual owing to the peculiar circumstances of his novitiate, Alfonso succeeded in eluding the vigilance of his holy brethren, and, passing the frontier, was hospitably received by Mamun, the Moorish prince of Toledo. In the course of time Sancho managed to deprive his remaining brothers and sisters of their inheritance, with the single exception of Urraca, who still held the strong city of Zamora. While reconnoitring that fortress, he was surprised and killed by a cavalier who suddenly issued from one of the gates. The Castilian nobles, duly assembled in the Great Council of the kingdom, agreed to the election of Alfonso on condition that he would make a solemn oath that the death of his brother had not been instigated by his suggestions. Alfonso complied; Rodrigo Diaz was chosen, as the most powerful subject, to receive the political absolution of the monarch elect; and the latter, placing his hands between those of the man to whom was wholly due his present humiliation, publicly purged himself from all complicity in fratricide. Public considerations, as well as the necessity of retaining the support of a warrior of such redoubtable character, induced Alfonso not long afterwards to give him in marriage Ximena, a daughter of one of the most distinguished of the Asturian nobility.