As a proof of her determination not to recede until her purpose had been accomplished, Isabella built a town about Granada, which exists to this day under the name of Santa Fé. Moats and entrenchments guarded the Spanish camp from surprises in any direction, and Ferdinand occupied himself in intercepting all communication from outside. The Moslems risked their last chance of safety in a general battle which resulted in victory for the Christians. Contrary to the advice of many sheikhs, who preferred death to surrender, Abu Abdallah entered into negotiations with Ferdinand. The treaty ran that Granada was to be given up at the end of two months, provided reinforcements did not arrive by sea or land within that time. The Arabs had made appeal to the sovereigns of Africa, and even to the sultan of Constantinople, but none would undertake the risk of such an enterprise, and Granada was forced to succumb.
Not wishing to remain in the country that had witnessed his ignominy and disgrace, Abu Abdallah went to Africa to finish his days in the silence of the deserts. The inhabitants of Granada withdrew to the inmost chambers of their dwellings, and let the Christians take possession of their city, which had the air of being completely deserted. The banner of Castile was flown from the summit of the Alhambra, and the great mosque was straightway decorated with the ornaments of the Catholic religion. There was not one among the vanquished who raised a protesting voice at anything that took place; they even seemed indifferent to the terms of surrender by which they retained their personal liberty, their property, their religion, their usages, and even their former legislative institutions. The fall of Granada seemed to be the sentence of death of the whole Arab race, as indeed it did mark the end of their domination in Spain, which had lasted 781 years (711-1492).
Ferdinand had no intention of faithfully carrying out the terms of the contract; he possessed Granada—that was the end and aim of his ambition. Accustomed as he was in politics to sacrificing everything to his own interests, he determined to force the Arabs gradually to abjure their religion and mode of life until they became merged into the rest of the population. He went prudently to work by charging his inquisitioners to convert the Moslems to Catholicism only by degrees. The Jews were first to be attacked, and forced by tortures and horrible executions to deny the faith of their fathers, that the Arabs might see what fate was in store for them should they refuse allegiance to Christianity. A little later all Moslem religious exercises were prohibited in public, and in 1499 Ferdinand boldly threw aside the mask, and pronounced sentence of expulsion against any Moslems who should refuse to be baptised. In vain were the cries of indignation that arose in the kingdom of Granada; the inhabitants of the cities went to church to worship the Christian God, and then in the privacy of their own homes asked pardon of the prophet for the sacrilege they had committed. The mountaineers of Alpujarras, the most energetic among the Moslem populations, openly refused to obey, and took up arms; but Ferdinand marched upon them with a superior force, and after having devastated their lands added confiscation to the sentence of exile pronounced against them.
[1525-1609 A.D.]
The Moslems of Valencia, whose industries formed one of Spain’s principal sources of prosperity, were tolerated as late as the reign of Charles V. During that period the nobles of the country forced them to submit to baptism. In 1525 an edict, instigated by the archbishop of Seville who was grand inquisitor, called upon the Arabs of Seville to renounce immediately their customs, language, and style of dress. In 1565 the Moslems attempted to gain some amelioration of these hard conditions by paying Philip II the sum of eight hundred thousand ducats; but though the government and the inquisition relaxed their severity in some degree, the Spanish people, carrying intolerance to its highest limits, pursued even into their mountain fastnesses the unfortunate Arabs who refused to become converted.
In 1568 the few faithful Moslems who were left armed themselves for revolt and entered into relations with their co-religionists in Africa, hoping to surprise and take Granada. Under the leadership of Muhammed ben Omayyah, who claimed to descend from the Cordovan caliphs, the struggle was carried on for several years; but finally divisions arose in the rebel camp, and Muhammed was assassinated. Mulei Abdallah who succeeded him was outwitted by John of Austria, and most of his soldiers deserted him—some to submit to the Christian rule, others to be transported to Africa. Mulei himself was reduced to negotiating terms with his victor. The mountaineers of Alpujarras were dispersed through the provinces of Asturias, Galicia, and Castile, and there kept under close surveillance.
A last blow was dealt the Arabs in 1609. Despite the protestations of a few generous nobles, the Moslem populations of Murcia and Valencia were crowded, by order of Philip III, on transports which carried them to the shores of Africa. A great many passed over into the Pyrenees, where they were received with kindness by Henry IV; this generous king offered many of them a refuge in his own domains, and to others he gave means of embarking for the ports of Guienne and Languedoc. It has been calculated that, from the time of the conquest of Granada until 1609, three millions of Arabs were exiled from Spanish soil; and never have the plains of Valencia, Murcia, and Granada recovered the flourishing aspect that they wore when cultivated by their former masters. The decree of 1609 was as fatal to Spain as the revocation of the Edict of Nantes was to France nearly a hundred years later.[d]
