History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 3 (of 3)

by S. P. Scott

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 suicides. 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 therefore 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 course 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 sentiment 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 Moslems 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 glorious 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 considerable 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 ecclesiastical writers conclusively establish the fact that it was provoked by the violence of the Christians themselves. 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. Several of these were women, between whom and their male companions in suffering and glory, the pious chronicler naïvely declares, “mysterious affinities” existed.

With the decline of the empire, the prevalence of anarchy, and the ascendency of the Berbers, the condition 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 treacherous vassals by the Moors of that kingdom was terrible. The expedition was productive of not less unhappy results at Cordova. Nearly every church was destroyed, the Christians were tortured, despoiled of their possessions, and deported in a body to Africa.

At the beginning of the twelfth century, the misfortunes 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 principalities do not mention the subject of persecution, and no Christian records of that time have been preserved. 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 Christian population of the Peninsula did not become Mohammedan. There is no doubt that those who remained consistently steadfast in the faith were in a decided minority. No inconsiderable number of proselytes 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 prospect of future ease or distinction. The mass of the tributaries of the province of Seville had early abandoned 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, circumstances 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 freedmen 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 belief, others took small pains to disguise the interested 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, afforded no immunity from outrage by the vilest of mankind. It was rare that a renegade, no matter how conspicuous his abilities, obtained a responsible office in the government. Even the Christian stood a far better chance of official promotion 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 unmerited humiliation and conscious of its strength, to calmly submit to such injustice. Nor was it long before 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-Hafsun, who for thirty years defied the power of the khalifate. The renegades, who outnumbered all other classes combined, lacked only organization and leadership to have driven their haughty oppressors into the sea. When the power of the Arab faction was destroyed, their condition was improved, but the ardor of proselytism had vanished. Such experiences tended rather to confirm than to weaken the faith of the hesitating.

Other causes contributed to the prevalent apathy. The semi-theocratical character of the Moslem constitution 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 superiority should by all means be free from turmoil, from vices, from schism; its infallibility should be demonstrated 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 confusion of warring sects, it was always impossible to distinguish the heretic from the orthodox. The Mussulman armies had often retired in disgrace from before the half-savage and ill-equipped Asturian mountaineers. Tried by the standards of mediæval 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 delighted to repair. There was no subject on which they were not competent to discourse; no topic which they 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 Pantheism of India. None mentioned without a contemptuous 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 literary faction whose influence was long paramount in the empire. Although its exercises were sometimes held in the Great Mosque, it had no sympathy with religion or its ministers. Its infidel teachings had for generations been the reproach of the pious faquis 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 Buddhist, and the Jew pursued their researches in generous rivalry or friendly co-operation.