A History of Spain Part 6

[Sidenote: The Almohades in Spain.]

[Sidenote: The Christian reconquest.]

Meanwhile, a second era of _taifa_ states had sprung up in Spain, but in 1146 the Almohades entered the peninsula, and proceeded to reduce the _taifa_ princes. By 1172 all Moslem Spain was under their sway. Spain was now formed into a province of the Almohade empire, the capital of which was in Africa. The new conquerors did more than merely garrison the peninsula,--they pursued the hated Arabs so zealously that the latter were either destroyed or absorbed. The Berbers were for many years virtually the only Mohammedan element in the peninsula except for the Renegados. The wars with the Christians were also renewed. In 1194 Alfonso VIII of Castile challenged the emperor Yacub to a battle. Yacub accepted, and the battle was fought at Alarcos (Badajoz) in 1195, ending in the rout of the Christians. The war continued, however, and in 1212 the united forces of Leon, Castile, Navarre, and Aragon gained a great victory at Navas de Tolosa in Andalusia. This was the turning-point in the Christian reconquest. The Almohade state soon fell to pieces, and by 1228 the _taifas_ began to reappear, but one after another they were conquered by the Christian kings. A single Moslem state escaped; in 1230 it had been founded at Arjona, and presently took shape as the kingdom of Granada, establishing its capital in 1238 at the city of the same name. This tiny realm, extending at its greatest from Almeria to Gibraltar, was able to maintain itself for over two centuries and a half.

_Leon and Castile_

[Sidenote: Castilian conquests.]

[Sidenote: Alfonso VI.]

By the will of Sancho the Great of Navarre, Castile had become legally a kingdom in 1035. Ferdinand I (1035-1065) soon overwhelmed the king of Leon, uniting all northwestern Spain under his rule. Wars with Navarre followed until 1054, after which Ferdinand devoted himself with great religious zeal to campaigns against the Moslem _taifas_, making numerous conquests, and subjecting many states to the payment of tribute. Despite the lesson of his own experience he divided his realm, at death, into the three kingdoms of Castile, Leon, and Galicia, besides two lesser princ.i.p.alities. A long civil war followed, out of which there emerged Alfonso VI (1065-1109) as sole ruler of the domain of his father.

Alfonso VI took up the wars against the Moslems with great success, and on one occasion, in 1082, was able to ride his horse into the sea in the extreme south of Spain at Tarifa, when he is said to have exclaimed: "This is the last land in Spain, and I have trod it." The princ.i.p.al event of the reign was the capture of Toledo in 1085. Alfonso had promised to restore the _taifa_ king of Toledo to his throne, from which he had been ousted by a rebellion, but changed his mind, and took the city for himself. From that time forward Toledo was of great military importance to the Christians, serving as the centre of the reconquest, and it was also the medium through which Moslem civilization began to produce an effect on Castile. The treaty of capitulation was not very faithfully carried out; for example, Alfonso had promised to allow the Mohammedans to retain their princ.i.p.al mosque for purposes of worship, but in his absence the monks of Cluny were able to persuade the queen to take over that edifice as a Christian church. The incident is ill.u.s.trative of a new crusading spirit which had entered Spain with the monks of Cluny, although it had not yet become general. _Taifa_ after _taifa_ now humbled itself before Alfonso; Valencia was captured, and the former king of Toledo became its nominal ruler, but with a Castilian army; and Alfonso could with reason ent.i.tle himself "sovereign of the men of the two religions," a phrase which shows that Christian zeal was not altogether uncompromising. It was then that the Almoravide invasion checked the Castilian king, but although he lost Valencia he was able to maintain the princ.i.p.al part of his conquests.

[Sidenote: The Cid.]

It was in the reign of Alfonso VI that Rodrigo, or Ruy, Diaz of Vivar (near Burgos), better known as "the Cid," performed the achievements which have made him a famous character in literature. Until recently he was represented as a fanatically ardent, Christian crusader, ever drawing his sword against the infidel or in defence of any just and n.o.ble cause, and performing superhuman prodigies of valor. The true Cid was very far from answering to that description, and was also so typical of his age that his real career has historic value apart from literature. In the civil wars following the death of Ferdinand I, Diaz was a partisan of Sancho II of Castile, and contributed greatly to that monarch's success,--a victory which was spoiled by the a.s.sa.s.sination of his patron. Diaz then recognized Alfonso VI, and was sent by the latter to collect the tribute due from the king of Seville. On his return he was accused of having appropriated for himself certain of the funds which he was bringing to the king, and was banished from Castile; possibly Alfonso VI may still have felt resentment over Diaz's part in the victories of Sancho. Followed by only a few warriors Diaz wandered over Spain, seeking wealth and honors in return for military aid.

Finally he took service with the Moslem king of Saragossa, and won fame in all the peninsula as a result of his victories not only against Moslem enemies but more than once against Christian kings; in fine, religion seems not to have entered into his program to any appreciable extent; indeed, the name Cid was applied by his Moslem soldiers, meaning "lord," or "master." In 1086 the Moslem king of Valencia, the same one who had been placed on the throne by Alfonso VI, got into difficulties with his subjects, and sought the aid of Saragossa. The Cid was sent with an army of mingled Christians and Moslems to restore the authority of the Valencian monarch. This he did, but under a contract which ignored his Saragossan master and enabled the Cid to become the virtual ruler of Valencia. In 1092 on the death of the king of Valencia the Cid converted his _de facto_ into a _de jure_ rule, reigning until his death in 1099. As monarch of Valencia he was selfish and cruel, like others of his time, sustaining his power by virtue of his army of Christians and Moslems against foes of whatever faith, even against Castile. He espoused one of his daughters to Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona, and another to a prince of the royal family of Navarre. After his death his state fell before the advance of the Almoravides.

[Sidenote: The anarchy of Urraca's reign.]

[Sidenote: The beginnings of Portugal.]

Alfonso VI was succeeded by his daughter Urraca (1109-1126), for he left no sons, and her reign was a period of anarchy. Urraca, who was a widow, was compelled by the n.o.bles to remarry, on the ground that affairs of state needed a man's direction, while her infant son by a previous marriage, Alfonso, was brought up in Galicia, being considered king of that region. Alfonso I "the Battler" of Aragon was selected as a husband for Urraca, but the marriage was not a happy one. Urraca was so imprudent in her manner of life that the Battler saw fit to imprison her in a castle. Furthermore, he displayed a clear intention of making himself ruler in Castile as he was in Aragon, a course which the Castilian n.o.bles were far from approving. The scene having been set the wars began. A complication entered from the side of Galicia, where Bishop Gelmirez of Santiago de Compostela proposed that the infant Alfonso should reign in Leon as well as in Galicia. The changes of side and fortune in these wars, not only by the three princ.i.p.als, but also by individual n.o.bles, need not be followed, except to relate one incident which marked the first step toward the ultimate independence of Portugal. Teresa, a sister of Urraca, had married a French count, Henry of Lorraine, to whom (in 1095?) Alfonso VI granted territories called the county of Portugal in the northern part of the land which now bears that name. These estates were held as a fief, subject to tribute and military service. Henry and later Teresa (on the former's death) profited by the civil strife to increase their holdings and acquire real strength. Urraca died in 1126, and matters were arranged by the recognition of the young Alfonso (Alfonso VII "the Emperor") as king in his grandfather's domain, while Alfonso the Battler gained some territories adjoining his kingdom of Aragon.[19]

[Sidenote: Alfonso "the Emperor."]

The death of Urraca did not end the internal strife in Christian Spain.

For ten years there were wars with Teresa and her son Affonso Enriquez of Portugal; there were wars, too, against Aragon and Navarre, following the death of Alfonso the Battler, out of which Alfonso VII procured some extensions of territory. When the century was nearly half gone Alfonso was able to turn energetically to an attack upon the Moslem states, especially between 1144 and 1147 during the second era of the _taifas_.

His conquests were vast, but of brief duration, for the Almohades soon entered Spain to deprive him of what he had won. Like Ferdinand I before him Alfonso VII took the t.i.tle of emperor, which then had a significance equivalent to that of sole temporal ruler of Christendom in succession to the Roman emperors. In the case of Ferdinand and Alfonso it may also have represented a protest against the like pretensions of the Holy Roman Emperors, then reigning princ.i.p.ally in Germanic Europe. Alfonso seemed in a fair way to create a peninsula empire, for he was able to make the kings of Aragon and Navarre, the counts of Barcelona and Toulouse, various lesser princes of Spain and southern France, and some rulers of the Moslem _taifas_ swear fealty to him as their feudal sovereign. The imperial confederation had no real strength, however, for the spirit of separatism was as yet too deeply rooted. Alfonso himself demonstrated this by dividing his realm at his death, in 1157, into the two kingdoms of Castile and Leon.

[Sidenote: The defence of Calatrava.]

[Sidenote: Alfonso VIII and the overthrow of the Moslems.]

The next following reigns had their share of internal strife and one important event in the course of the Moslem wars,--the defence of Calatrava in 1158 by two Cistercian monks, who procured an army by proclaiming a crusade. Out of this event there came the founding in 1164 of the important military order of Calatrava. Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) inherited the throne of Castile while still a child. War and disorder followed until 1180, for the kings of Leon and Navarre and various n.o.bles endeavored as usual to profit for themselves at the expense of the newly enthroned monarch. At length Alfonso VIII, who was one of the ablest rulers of this period (both in internal organization and in external conquest), directed his attention to the reconquest from the Moslems. After a rapid succession of victories he was defeated, as already noted, at the battle of Alarcos, on which occasion the kings of Leon and Navarre failed to accord him the aid they had promised. Wars followed against the two kings, but matters were at length adjusted and a tremendous army, including many foreigners, was raised to combat the Almohades. All seemed to be imbued with the crusading spirit, but most of the foreigners deserted before the issue presented itself. Nearly all the peoples of Christian Spain were represented in Alfonso's host, however, and together they won the great battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

[Sidenote: The independence of Portugal.]

Meanwhile, the counts of Portugal had continued their policy of complete separation from Leon and Castile, and had also extended their frontiers southward by successful wars against the Moslems. Affonso Enriquez took the t.i.tle of king, and this was recognized in 1143 by Alfonso VII, subject to the va.s.salage of the Portuguese monarch to Leon. Affonso Enriquez managed to avoid this condition by submitting his state to the sovereignty of the pope, who accepted it in 1144, though conferring only the t.i.tle of duke on Affonso. A few years later Pope Alexander III recognized the Portuguese ruler as king. Thus Portugal withdrew from the current of peninsula unity, and established her independence in law and in fact.

[Sidenote: Saint Ferdinand and the crusades in Spain.]

Berenguela, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, had married Alfonso IX (1188-1230) of Leon, by whom she had a son, Ferdinand. Pope Innocent III brought about an annulment of the marriage on the ground of consanguinity, though he recognized the legitimacy of Ferdinand. On the death of Henry I of Castile in 1217 Berenguela was proclaimed queen, but granted the throne to her son, who as Ferdinand III, later Saint Ferdinand (San Fernando), was to prove an even greater monarch than his grandfather, Alfonso VIII. Wars with his father and with his n.o.bles occupied the early years of his reign, but by 1225, having overcome his Christian enemies, he was able to renew the campaigns against the Moslems. City after city fell into his power; Cordova was taken in 1236; Murcia became tributary in 1241; and the culminating blow came with the siege of Seville, which surrendered to Ferdinand in 1248. Despite the fact that not a little crusading zeal entered into these campaigns and that Ferdinand himself was an ardent Christian, religious enthusiasm, even yet, was not as uncompromising as it later became. Ferdinand was an ally at one time of the Almohade emperor, whom he restored to his throne in Africa; he also accepted the alliance of the Moslem prince of Granada in the campaign against Seville; and other similar instances of his freedom from fanatical intolerance might be adduced. Nevertheless, he planned to overwhelm the Moslem authority, and would almost certainly have invaded Africa if he had lived a few years longer. His Christian spirit, however, was along practical and national lines. When Louis IX of France invited him to join in a crusade in the orient Ferdinand is said to have replied: "There is no lack of Moors in _my_ land." Not only by conquests but also by internal reforms he a.s.sisted in the development of Castilian unity. One external event of capital importance was the incorporation into Castile of the kingdom of Leon in 1230 on the death of Alfonso IX, despite the latter's attempt to deliver his dominions to two daughters by a marriage previous to that with Berenguela. With Ferdinand's death in 1252 the era of the Castilian crusades came to an end.

_Catalonia, 1035 to 1164_

[Sidenote: The extension of the authority of the counts of Barcelona.]

At the time when Ramon Berenguer I (1035-1076) became count of Barcelona, Catalonia was a federation of counties, acknowledging the ruler of Barcelona as overlord. Possessed already of Barcelona and Gerona, Ramon Berenguer soon acquired two more counties, which had been left by his father to other sons. He extended his frontiers at the expense of the Moslems, and laid the foundations of the later Catalonian power in southern France through marriage alliances with princes of that region. It was in his reign, too, that the Catalan code of the _Usaticos_, or _Usatges_ (Usages, or Customs), was compiled, though at the instance of his powerful va.s.sals, who wanted their privileges reduced to writing. By the end of his reign he had united five Catalonian counties and many other territories under his rule, including almost as much land in southern France as he possessed in Spain. No further progress was made until the reign of Ramon Berenguer III (1096-1131), who, through inheritance, without civil wars, acquired all of the Catalonian counties but two and a great part of southern France.

He also waged wars against the Moslems, though perhaps the most notable thing about them was that the Pisans fought as his allies. Indeed, he established commercial and diplomatic relations with the various Italian republics,--a beginning of Spain's fateful connection with Italy. Ramon Berenguer IV (1131-1162) inherited only the Spanish portions of his father's domain, but extended his authority over Tortosa, Lerida, and other Moslem regions, being a notable warrior. In 1150 he married the daughter of the king of Aragon, and in 1164 his son by this marriage united Aragon and Catalonia under a single rule.

_Aragon_

[Sidenote: The beginnings of Aragon and the union with Catalonia.]

The kingdom of Aragon dates from the will of Sancho the Great of Navarre in 1035. The new state was almost insignificantly small at the outset, but, by inheritances, wars with the Moslems, and the peaceful incorporation of Navarre in 1076, it already included a large portion of north central Spain by the close of the eleventh century. The era of great conquests began with Alfonso I "the Battler" (1104-1134), the same king whose marriage with Urraca of Castile had resulted so unfavorably.

Better fortune awaited him on the Moslem frontier. In 1118 he captured Saragossa, an event as important in Aragon as was the acquisition of Toledo a few years before in Castile. He carried his campaigns as far south, even, as Murcia and Andalusia, but the princ.i.p.al result of these invasions was that he brought back ten thousand Mozarabes to settle his newly-won conquests. Having no sons he tried to leave his realm to two military orders, but this arrangement did not prove agreeable to his subjects. The n.o.bles of Navarre elected a king of their own, withdrawing from the union with Aragon, while those of Aragon chose a brother of Alfonso, named Ramiro, who at the time of his election was a monk. The reign of Ramiro II "the Monk" (1134-1137) was exceptionally important for Spain, without any particular merit accruing therefor to the king.

The pope freed him from his vows and he married. From this marriage there was born a daughter, Petronilla. Ramiro espoused her to Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, and soon abdicated, returning to his monastery. Petronilla's son, Ramon Berenguer, who presently changed his name to the Aragonese-sounding Alfonso, was the first to rule in his own right over Aragon and Catalonia in what came to be called the kingdom of Aragon, although Catalonia was always the more important part.

[Sidenote: The act of va.s.salage to the pope and the French conquests in Aragonese dominions of southern France.]

Alfonso II inherited Catalonia in 1162, and became king of Aragon proper in 1164 on the abdication of Petronilla. Later he inherited nearly all of southern France. He was also a frequent ally of Alfonso VIII of Castile against the Moslems, gaining some territories on his own account. In 1179 these two kings made a treaty dividing Spain between them, fixing the limits of their respective present and future conquests,--a noteworthy instance of the approach toward the unification of Spain. Alfonso II was succeeded by Pedro II "the Catholic"

(1196-1213) at a time when affairs were in a critical state in his French dominions. That region had been in constant turmoil, as a result both of the ambitions of the kings of France and of the comparative independence and selfish aims of the feudal lords. There was now added a new factor,--the widespread Albigensian heresy, which had been accepted by the majority of the Provencal people and even more by their lords.

With matters in this state Pedro visited Rome in 1204, and, while there, gave his dominions in va.s.salage to the pope, receiving them back as a fief. This act was to have important consequences at a later time, but if its immediate object was to check French pretensions to southern France, as has been supposed, it was not very successful, for the pope himself proclaimed a crusade against the Albigenses. The crusaders were French n.o.bles, who represented a purely French invasion quite as much as they did an orthodox host. Under their leader, Simon de Montfort, they won several victories, displaying such cruelty against Catholics and heretics alike that they were censured by a famous religious at that time preaching among the Albigenses, Domingo de Guzman. Guzman was the Spaniard who later founded the Dominican order, named for him, and who became canonized as Saint Dominic (San Domingo). Pedro II endeavored to mediate to check the temporal designs of Montfort, but was persuaded by the pope to recognize the French leader as his va.s.sal in the regions he had conquered. When Montfort continued in his aggressive designs Pedro II declared war against him, but was defeated in a battle which cost him his life.

[Sidenote: Early years of the reign of Jaime "the Conqueror."]

The death of Pedro II brought to the throne the greatest Aragonese monarch of the period, Jaime I "the Conqueror" (1213-1276), a worthy contemporary of Ferdinand III of Castile. At the outset of his reign he was a mere child in the dangerous possession of Simon de Montfort. On this occasion the tremendous influence of the great pope, Innocent III, was beneficial to Spain, for Montfort was constrained to surrender the boy king to his people. Then followed the usual troubles which beset the early years of a youthful monarch in that period. There were wars brought about by ambitious n.o.bles fighting for the possession of the king, wars of the n.o.bles among themselves, and wars of the n.o.bles against the king. Though only a boy, Jaime took a hand in the fighting, and was many times in danger,--twice he was captured by hostile n.o.bles,--but thanks to his courage and coolness was always able to free himself from the perils which beset him. Not until 1228 was he in full command of the situation. Meanwhile, civil wars had been taking place in southern France, resolving themselves finally into a struggle between the count of Toulouse, aided by the Catalans, and Simon de Montfort. In this war Montfort lost his life, and the French power in that region for the time being vanished.

[Sidenote: The conquests of Jaime.]

Backed by the sentiment of most of Catalonia, which desired territorial and commercial expansion in the Mediterranean, Jaime now planned a career of conquest. Many of the Aragonese and western Catalonian n.o.bles declined to join him in this enterprise; so he had to find means as best he could without their aid. In 1229 he entered the island of Majorca, which for centuries had been successively a pirate and Moslem stronghold. Having achieved the conquest, which proved an easy matter, Jaime distributed the lands among his Catalan followers. In 1232 Minorca was subjected, and in 1235 Ibiza, too. Thus the Balearic Islands fell into Jaime's power and received a Catalan civilization, which they still possess. The greatest prize, however, was the rich kingdom of Valencia.

Although handicapped by the lukewarm support of his n.o.bles Jaime proceeded to the conquest with such success that he won the aid of those who had previously failed to help him, and in 1238 the city of Valencia fell,--an event comparable with the capture of Seville by Ferdinand III.

The rest of the kingdom was not long in falling into Jaime's power, and the lands were distributed among his n.o.bles, but the Moslems were so numerous that they were able to rise in rebellion on two occasions before the end of the reign. On achieving the conquest of Valencia, Jaime had agreed with the king of Castile that the southern boundary of that kingdom should be the limit of the Aragonese conquest, while Murcia, which became tributary to Ferdinand III in 1241, was reserved for the ultimate definitive conquest of Castile. The unquenchable military ardor of Jaime I would not allow him to rest on his laurels, however, and he engaged to conquer Murcia for the king of Castile. This he accomplished in the years 1265 and 1266, giving the lands to his Catalan n.o.bles, who were subjected to the Castilian king, whereupon Jaime withdrew. These relations between the kings of Castile and Aragon not only instanced a somewhat rare good faith, but also marked a tendency which was gradually manifesting itself toward the ultimate unity of Spain. Next, the restless warrior-king planned to go on a crusade to Palestine, but his fleet was wrecked, and he gave up the project, although some Catalan boats did reach their destination. In 1273 Jaime wanted to conquer Granada for Castile, but this time he could not persuade his Catalan n.o.bles to follow him. He did, however, send a fleet to attack the coast of Morocco.

[Sidenote: Other characteristics of Jaime's rule.]

Jaime was not only a great conqueror; he was also a great administrator.

Owing to the entry of feudalism into northeastern Spain his n.o.bles had such power that even the able Jaime was obliged often to compromise or to yield to their wishes. He took steps to reduce their power, at the cost of civil war, and in many other respects bettered the administration of his kingdom. Though deeply religious he was far from being an ascetic, as is evidenced by the many illegitimate children descended from him, and although usually magnanimous in character he was capable of acts of ferocious cruelty,--such, for example, as that of ordering the tongue of the bishop of Gerona to be torn out for the latter's having revealed to the pope a secret of the confession. In 1276 when the great king died he left a will which contradicted the policies of centralization and the aggrandizement of the kingdom which in his lifetime he had unfailingly pursued. He divided his realms, giving Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia to his eldest son, Pedro, and Majorca and the Roussillon (southern France) to his son Jaime. The division was not to endure long, however.

_Navarre_

[Sidenote: Navarre pa.s.ses under French rule.]

There is little worth recording in the history of Navarre in this period. After the separation from Aragon in 1134 Navarre engaged periodically in civil strife and in wars with Aragon or Castile. When the throne became vacant in 1234 the French count of Champagne was elected king, and, with this, Navarre was, for many years, more involved in the history of France than in that of Spain. At length the heiress of Navarre married Philip IV of France, whereupon Navarre ceased to be a kingdom, becoming a mere dependency of the French monarch.

CHAPTER VIII

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1031-1276

_Moslem Spain_