History of the Moors of Spain Part 9

Most of the productions of the Grenadian authors of this period perished at the final conquest of their country;[13] but some of them have been preserved, and still exist in the library of the Escurial.

They chiefly treat of grammar, astrology (then greatly esteemed), and, above all, of theology, a study in which the Moors excelled. That people, naturally gifted with discriminating minds and ardent imaginations, produced many distinguished theologians, who may easily be supposed to have introduced into Europe the unfortunate scholastic taste for subtle questions and disputes, which once rendered so celebrated, men whose names and achievements have since sunk for ever into oblivion. The {162} pretended secrets of the cabal, of alchymy, of judicial astronomy, of the divining rod, and all the accounts, formerly so common, of sorcerers, magicians, and enchanters, are derived from these descendants of the Arabs. They were a superst.i.tious race from the remotest times; and it is probable that to their residence in Spain, and their long intercourse with the Spaniards, is owing that love for the marvellous, and that well-deserved reputation for superst.i.tious credulity, with which philosophy still reproaches a sprightly and intellectual nation, upon whom nature has bestowed the germes of the best qualities that adorn humanity.

A kind of literature which was common among these Saracens, and for which the Spaniards were indebted to them, was that of novels or romances. The Arabs were ever, as they still are, pa.s.sionate lovers of story-telling. As well in the tents of the wild Bedouin as in the palaces of the East, alike under the gilded domes and peasant roofs of Grenada, this taste prevailed. Everywhere they a.s.sembled nightly to listen to romantic narratives of love and valour. Everywhere they listened in silent attention, or wept from sympathetic interest in the fate {163} of those whose adventures formed the subject of the tale.

The Grenadians joined with this pa.s.sion for exciting incident, a taste for music and singing. Their poets imbodied in verse these favourite recitals of love and war. Musicians were employed in composing suitable airs for them, and they were thus sung by the youthful Moors with all the enthusiasm that pa.s.sion, poetry, and dulcet harmony can unitedly inspire. From this national custom are derived the mult.i.tude of Spanish romances, translated or imitated from the Arabic, which, in a simple and sometimes touching style, recount the fierce combats of the Moors and Christians, the fatal quarrels of jealous and haughty rivals, or the tender conversation of lovers. They describe with great exactness everything relating to the peculiar manners and amus.e.m.e.nts of this interesting and extinguished nation: their fetes, their games of the ring and of canes, and their bull-fights, the latter of which they adopted from the Spaniards, are all portrayed. Thus we learn that their war-like equipments consisted of a large cimeter, a slender lance, a short coat of mail, and a light leathern buckler. We have descriptions of superb horses, with their richly-jewelled and {164} embroidered housings sweeping the earth in ample folds, and of the devises emblazoned on the arms of the graceful Moorish cavaliers.

These last consisted frequently of a heart pierced by an arrow, or perhaps of a star guiding a vessel, or of the first letter of the name of the fair recipients of their vows of love. We learn, too, that their colours each bore a peculiar signification: yellow and black expressed grief; green, hope; blue, jealousy; violet and flame colour, pa.s.sionate love.

The following abridged translation of one of these little compositions will produce a more correct idea of them in the mind of the reader than any description could convey.[14]

GONZULO AND ZELINDA.

A MOORISH ROMANCE.

In a transport of jealousy and pride, Zelinda spurned her lover from her side!

{165} His cruel doom Gonzulo heard With bosom wrung; and disappeared!

But the fair maid soon deeply felt The torturing wound herself had dealt; As glides the snow from mountain crest, So fled resentment from her breast.

They tell her that the Moor's proud heart Is pierced by grief's most poisoned dart, And that he'd doffed, when flying from her side, The tender colours that were once his pride; That green, of hope the cherished emblem gay, To sorrow's mournful hues had given way.

A badge of c.r.a.pe his lance's point now wears, A blackened crown his shield as emblem bears!

{166}

To proffer gifts with different meaning fraught, Zelinda now her errant lover sought: The blue of jealousy she had united With all the hues most dear to lovers plighted; A violet gem, entwined with gold, Gleamed mid a broidered turban's fold, And every silken riband that she bore, Of lovely innocence the symbol wore.

Zelinda reached the soft retreat Where Gonzulo his fate must meet!

O'erwhelmed with doubt, the dark-eyed maid Reclined beneath a myrtle shade, And sent a faithful page to guide Her banished lover to her side.

Gonzulo scarce the message would receive, For wo had taught his heart to disbelieve!

{167}

But soon he flew, on wing of love, To seek Zelinda's chosen grove.

Then tearful glances of regret By words of tenderness were met; And ne'er did guardian nymphs record More ardent vows than there were poured!

'Twas thus triumphant love repaired The cruel wrongs that each had shared!

The delicate and peculiar gallantry, which rendered the Moors of Grenada famous throughout Europe, formed a singular contrast to the ferocity that is so natural to all nations of African origin. These Islamites, whose chief glory it was dexterously to deprive their enemies of their heads, attach them to their saddle-bows, and afterward display them as trophies on the {168} battlements of their towers or at the entrance of their palaces; these restless and ungovernable warriors, who were ever ready to revolt against their rulers, to depose or to murder them, were the most tender, the most devoted, the most ardent of lovers. Their wives, though their domestic position was little superior to that of slaves, became, when they were beloved, the absolute sovereigns, the supreme divinities of those whose hearts they possessed. It was to please these idolized beings that the Moorish cavaliers sought distinction in the field; it was to shine in their eyes that they lavished their treasures and their lives--that they mutually endeavoured to eclipse each other in deeds of arms, in the splendour of their warlike exploits, and the Oriental magnificence of their fetes.

It cannot now be determined whether the Moors derived this extraordinary union of softness and cruelty, of delicacy and barbarity--this generous rivalry in courage and in constancy from the Spaniards, or whether the Spaniards acquired these characteristics from the Moors. But when it is remembered that they do not belong to the Asiatic Arabs, from whom these gallant knights originally sprang; that they are {169} found, even in a less degree, if possible, among these followers of Mohammed in that portion of Africa where their conquests have naturalized them; and, that after their departure from Spain, the Grenadians lost every trace of the peculiarly interesting and chivalrous qualities by which they had previously been so remarkably distinguished, there is some ground for the opinion that it was to the Spaniards that their Moslem neighbours were indebted for the existence of these national attributes. In truth, before the invasion of Spain by the Arabs, the courts of the Gothic kings had already offered knightly examples of a similar spirit. And after that event we find the cavaliers of Leon, Navarre, and Castile equally renowned for their achievements in war and their romantic devotion to the fair s.e.x. The mere name of _the Cid_ awakens in the mind recollections alike of tenderness and bravery. It should be remembered, too, that, long after the expulsion of the Moors from the Peninsula, the Spaniards maintained a reputation for gallantry far superior to that of the French, some portion of the spirit of which, though extinct among every other European nation, still lingers in Spain.

{170}

But, be this point decided as it may, it is not to be disputed that the daughters of Grenada merited the devotion which they inspired: they were perhaps the most fascinating women in the world. We find in the narrative of a Moorish historian, who wrote at Grenada during the reign of Mohammed the Old, the following description of his countrywomen:

"Their beauty is remarkable; but the loveliness which strikes the beholder at first sight afterward receives its princ.i.p.al charm from the grace and gentleness of their manners. In stature they are above the middle height, and of delicate and slender proportions. Their long black hair descends to the earth. Their teeth embellish with the whiteness of alabaster, vermillion lips, which perpetually smile with a bewitching air. The constant use which they make of the most exquisite perfumes, gives a freshness and brilliancy to their complexions possessed by no other Mohammedan women. Their walking, their dancing, their every movement, is distinguished by a graceful softness, an ease, a lightness, which surpa.s.ses all their other charms. Their conversation is lively and sensible, and their fine intellects are {171} constantly displayed in brilliant wit or judicious sentiments."

The dress of these elegant females was composed, as that of the Turkish women still is, of a long tunic of linen confined by a cincture, of a _doliman_ or Turkish dress with close sleeves, of wide trousers and Morocco slippers. The materials of their clothing were of the finest fabric, and were usually woven in stripes: they were embroidered with gold and silver, and profusely spangled with jewels. Their waving tresses floated over their shoulders; and a small cap, adorned with the richest gems, supported an embroidered veil, which fell nearly to the feet. The men were clothed in a similar manner: with them were carried in the girdle the purse, the handkerchief, and the poniard: a white, and sometimes a coloured, turban covered the head; and over the Turkish doliman they wore in summer a wide and flowing white robe, and in winter the _albornos_ or African mantle. The only change made in their dress by the Moorish cavaliers when preparing for battle was the addition of a coat of mail, and an iron lining within their turbans.

It was the custom of the Grenadians to repair {172} every year, during the autumn, to the charming villas by which the city was surrounded.

There they yielded themselves up to the pursuit of pleasure. The chase and the dance, music and feasting, occupied every hour.

The manners of those who partic.i.p.ated in these national dances were in a high degree unreserved, as was the language of the songs and ballads in which they joined. Were it not for the contradictions in the human character, one might be surprised at this want of delicacy in a people who were capable of so much refinement of feeling. But, in general, nations of Oriental origin possess but little reserve in their manners: they have more of pa.s.sion than sentiment, more of jealousy than delicacy in their haughty and excitable natures.

In giving these details, we have perhaps trespa.s.sed too long on the period of calm repose enjoyed by the kingdom of Grenada during the reign of Abouhadjad. That excellent sovereign, after having filled the throne for thirteen years, left his flourishing dominions to his son Joseph, who succeeded him without opposition, A.D. 1392, Heg. 795.

Joseph II. was desirous, in imitation of the {173} course pursued by his father, of maintaining the truce with the Christians. It was, however, soon disturbed by a fanatical hermit, who persuaded the Grand-master of Alcantara, Martin de Barbuda, a Portuguese, that he had been selected by Heaven as the chosen instrument for expelling the infidels from Spain. He promised the credulous Martin, in the name of G.o.d, that he should succeed in conquering the enemies of the Cross, and in carrying the city of Grenada by a.s.sault, without the loss of a single soldier. The infatuated grand-master, convinced of the certainty of the fulfilment of this promise, immediately sent amba.s.sadors to Joseph, with orders to declare to that sovereign, in his name, that, since the religion of Mohammed was false and detestable, and that of Jesus Christ the only true and saving faith, he, Martin de Barbuda, defied the King of Grenada to a combat of two hundred Mussulmans against one hundred Christians, upon condition that the vanquished nation should instantly adopt the faith of the conquerors.

The reception these amba.s.sadors met with may be easily imagined.

Joseph could scarcely restrain the indignation of his people. The {174} envoys, driven contemptuously away, returned to the presence of the grand-master, who, surprised at receiving no response to his proposal, soon a.s.sembled a thousand foot-soldiers and three hundred cavaliers, and hastened to the conquest of Grenada under the guidance of the prophetic hermit.

The King of Castile, Henry III., who desired to preserve peace with the followers of the Prophet at the commencement of a reign during which his own dominions were but ill at rest, was no sooner informed of the enterprise of Barbuda, than he sent him positive orders not to cross the frontiers; but that dignitary replying that he ought to obey the commands of Jehovah rather than those of any earthly master, proceeded on his way. The governors of the different cities through which he pa.s.sed on his route endeavoured, though vainly, to arrest his progress; but the people overwhelmed him with homage, and everywhere added to the number of his forces.

The army of the grand-master amounted to six thousand men, when, in A.D. 1394, Heg. 798, he entered the country which his folly taught him to regard as already in his possession. In attacking the first castle at which he {175} arrived, three soldiers were killed and their fanatical commander himself wounded. Surprised beyond measure at beholding his own blood flow and three soldiers fall, he summoned the anchorite into his presence, and sedately demanded what this meant, after his express promise that not a single champion of the true faith should perish. The fanatic replied, that the word he had pledged extended only to regular battles. Barbuda complained no more, and presently perceived the approach of a Moorish army composed of fifty thousand men. The conflict soon commenced: the grand-master and his three hundred mounted followers perished in the field, after having performed prodigies of valour. The remainder of the Spanish army were either taken prisoners or put to flight; and the silence of historians respecting the hermit, leads to the opinion that he was not among the last to seek safety at a distance from the scene of action.

This foolish enterprise did not interrupt the good understanding subsisting between the two nations. The King of Castile disavowed all approval of the conduct of Martin de Barbuda, and Joseph long continued to reign with honour and tranquillity. But he was at last poisoned, {176} it is said, by a magnificent robe which he received from his secret enemy, the King of Fez through the amba.s.sadors of that sovereign. Historians a.s.sert that this garment was impregnated with a terrible poison, which caused the death of the unfortunate Joseph by the most horrible torments. The peculiar effects it produced was that of detaching the flesh from the bones, the misery of the wretched sufferer enduring for the protracted period of thirty days.

Mohammed IX., the second son of this hapless monarch, who, even during the lifetime of his father, had excited commotions in the realm, usurped the crown that of right belonged to his elder brother Joseph, whom he caused to be confined in prison.

Mohammed was courageous, and possessed some talents for war. Allied with the King of Tunis, who joined his fleet with that of Grenada, he broke the truce maintained with Castile during the two preceding reigns, and at first gained some advantages over his adversaries, but the Infant Don Ferdinand, the uncle and tutor of the young king John II., was not long in avenging the cause of Spain.

Mohammed IX. died in the year 1408, {177} Heg. 811. When the expiring monarch became conscious that his end was rapidly approaching, desirous of securing the crown to his son, he sent one of his princ.i.p.al officers to the prison of his brother Joseph, with orders to cut off the head of the royal occupant. The officer found Joseph engaged in a game of chess with an iman:[15] he sorrowfully announced the mournful commission with which he was charged. The prince, without manifesting any emotion at the communication, only demanded time to conclude his game; and the officer could not refuse this slight favour. While the philosophical Mussulman continued to play, a second messenger arrived, bearing the news of the death of the usurper, and of the proclamation of Joseph as his successor to the throne.

The people of Grenada were happy under the rule of the good King Joseph III. So far was he from avenging himself upon those who had aided his brother in depriving him of his rights, that he lavished favours and offices on them, and educated the son of Mohammed in the same manner as his own children. When his councillors blamed him for a degree of indulgence {178} which they regarded as hazardous, "Allow me," replied the sovereign, "to deprive my enemies of all excuse for having preferred my younger brother to me!"

This excellent prince was often obliged to take arms against the Christians. He was so unfortunate as to lose some cities, but he preserved the respect and affection of his subjects, and died lamented by the whole kingdom, after a reign of fifteen years, A.D. 1423, Heg.

927.

After the death of Joseph the state was distracted by civil wars.

Mohammed X. Abenazar, or the _Left-handed_, the son and successor of that benevolent king, was banished from the throne by Mohammed XI. _El Zugair_, or the Little, who preserved his ill-gotten power but two years. The Abencerrages, a powerful tribe[16] at Grenada, re-established Mohammed the Left-handed in his former place, and his compet.i.tor perished on the scaffold.

About four years after the death of Joseph, the Spaniards renewed their inroads into Grenada, and carried fire and sword to the very gates of the capital. All the neighbouring fields were devastated; the crops were burned and the {179} villages destroyed. John II., who then reigned in Castile, wishing to add to the miseries he had already occasioned these unhappy people the still greater misfortune of civil war, instigated the proclamation at Grenada of a certain Joseph Alliamar, a grandson of that Mohammed the Red so basely a.s.sa.s.sinated at Seville by Peter the Cruel.

All the discontented spirits in the kingdom joined the faction of Joseph Alhamar; and the Zegris, a powerful tribe, who were at enmity with the Abencerrages, lent their aid to the usurper. Mohammed Abenazar was again driven from the capital, A.D. 1432, Heg. 836, and Joseph IV. Alhamar possessed his dominions six months. At the termination of that time he expired.

Mohammed the Left-handed once more resumed his royal seat; but, after thirteen years of misfortune, this unhappy prince was again deposed for the third time, and imprisoned by one of his nephews, named Mohammed XII. the Osmin, who was himself afterward dethroned[17] by his own brother Ismael, and ended his days {180} in the same dungeon in which his uncle Mohammed Abenazar had languished.

All these revolutions did not prevent the Christian and Moorish governors who commanded on their respective frontiers from making incessant irruptions into the enemy's country. Sometimes a little troop of cavalry or infantry surprised a village, ma.s.sacred the inhabitants, pillaged their houses, and carried away their flocks.

Sometimes an army suddenly appeared in a fertile plain, devastated the fields, uprooted the vines, felled the trees, besieged and took some town or fortress, and retired with their booty. This kind of warfare was ruinous, most of all, to the unfortunate cultivator of the soil.

The Grenadian dominions suffered so much during the reign of Ismael II., that the king was compelled to cause immense forests to be cleared for the support of his capital, which then drew scarcely any supplies from the vast and fertile _vega_ which had been so often desolated by the Spaniards.

Ismael II. left the crown to his son Mulei-Ha.s.sem, a young and highly courageous prince, who, profiting by the disastrous condition of Castile under the deplorable reign of Henry IV. the {181} Impotent, carried his arms into the centre of Andalusia. The success that marked the commencement of the reign of this sovereign, together with his talents and warlike ardour, tempted the Moors to believe that they might yet recover their former greatness. But the occurrence at this juncture of a great and unlooked-for event, arrested the victorious progress of Mulei-Ha.s.sam, and prepared the way for the total ruin of his kingdom.

Isabella of Castile, the sister of Henry the Impotent, notwithstanding the opposition of her brother and the intervention of almost insurmountable obstacles, espoused Ferdinand the Catholic, the king of Sicily, and heir presumptive of the kingdom of Aragon.[18] This marriage, by uniting the two most powerful monarchs of Spain, gave a fatal blow to the prosperity of the Moors, which they had been able to maintain, even in the degree in which it now existed, only through the divisions which had hitherto perpetually prevailed among their Christian opponents.

Either of the two enemies, now unitedly arrayed against them, had been singly sufficient {182} to overwhelm the Mussulmans. Ferdinand was alike politic, able, and adroit. He was pliant, and, at the same time, firm; cautious to a degree sometimes amounting to pusillanimity; cunning even to falsehood, and endowed in an extraordinary degree with the power of discerning at a single glance all the various means of attaining a particular end. Isabella was of a prouder and more n.o.ble nature; endowed with heroic courage and the most unyielding constancy of purpose, she was admirably qualified for the pursuit and accomplishment of any enterprise to which she might direct the energies of her powerful mind. The exalted endowments of one of these royal personages have been employed to enn.o.ble the character of the other.

Ferdinand often played the part of a weak, perfidious woman, negotiating only to deceive; whereas Isabella was always the high-souled sovereign, advancing openly to her purposes, and marching directly to honourable conflict and generous triumph.

No sooner had these distinguished individuals secured possession of their respective kingdoms, suppressed all domestic disturbances, and effected peaceful arrangements with foreign powers, {183} than they mutually resolved to concentrate all their efforts for the annihilation of the Mohammedan dominion in Spain.

This century seemed destined to be marked by the glory of the Spaniards. In addition to the immense advantages afforded them by the union of their forces, Ferdinand and Isabella were surrounded by the wisest and most experienced advisers. The celebrated Cardinal Ximenes, at one time a simple monk, was now at the head of their councils; and that able minister "_led_," as he himself averred, "_all Spain by his girdle!_" The civil wars with which the Peninsula had been so long disturbed, had created among the Christian powers a host of brave soldiers and excellent commanders. Among the latter were particularly distinguished the Count de Cabra, the Marquis of Cadiz, and the famous Gonzalvo of Cordova, whose just claim to the surname of _the Great Captain_, given him by his countrymen, the lapse of time has only served to confirm. The public treasury, which had been exhausted by the lavish prodigality of Henry, was soon replenished by the rigid economy of Isabella, aided by a bull from the pope, permitting the royal appropriation of the {184} ecclesiastical revenues. The troops were numerous and admirably disciplined, and the emulation which existed between the Castilians and Aragonians redoubled the valour of both. Everything, in short, prognosticated the downfall of the last remaining throne of the Moors.