Christianity and Islam in Spain, A.D. 756-1031 Part 12

[2] Koran, xlvii., ad init.

[3] Koran, v., v. 73. This may be said in the general sense of Acts x. 35.

[4] Koran, ii., v. 258.

[5] See Freeman's "Saracens," p. 230; from Malcolm's "Persia,"

i. p 583.

[6] _Ibid._, from "Ayeen Akbery," p. 11.

Yet far too often have portions of the Christian Church been conspicuous for intolerance rather than tolerance. Alcuin, indeed, does say in his letter to Aquila, Bishop of Winchester, that he does not approve of punis.h.i.+ng heresy with death, because G.o.d, by the mouth of His prophet, had said: "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live;"[1] but Alcuin was a man of unusual mildness and sweet reasonableness, as his letters to Felix and Elipandus testify. On the other hand, there were too many frantic bigots in the Church, like Arnold of Citeaux, whose impious words, in connection with the ma.s.sacre of Albigensians, are not likely to be forgotten--"Slay all; G.o.d will know His own."

In fact, so opposed did the Christian spirit come to be to the Mohammedan in this respect, that their toleration was made a princ.i.p.al argument against the Moors by the Archbishop of Valencia in his memorial to Philip III. at the end of the sixteenth century.[2]

A very melancholy instance of bigotry and intolerance is afforded by Bernard, a French monk, who was made Archbishop of Toledo by Alfonso, on the capture of that city in 1085. By the treaty of capitulation certain mosques had been expressly reserved to the Moslems, just in the same way as certain churches had been reserved for the Christians by Musa in 712.

But Bernard, by way of showing his zeal in the cause of G.o.d, in defiance of the king's plighted word, chose to perform ma.s.s in the chief mosque.

Alfonso was furiously angry when he heard of his archbishop's proceedings, but the Moslems, with wonderful forbearance, seeing that the king had not authorised Bernard's outrageous conduct, came forward of their own accord and begged him to pardon the act, and even voluntarily surrendered their mosque.[3]

Not only were the Christians allowed to practise their religion, but even, as we have seen above, encouraged in it.[4] Almanzor, the champion of Islam, allowed his Christian servants to rest on Sundays. Christians in every reign held high posts at court[5] and throughout the land, and not only timeserving Christians but men like Samson and Leovigild, who were known to sympathise with the party of zealots, were employed by the king to write letters to, and negotiate with, the neighbouring kings.

This was no doubt due to their general trustworthiness, their quickness, and their knowledge of Arabic as well as Latin.

[1] Ezekiel x.x.xiii. 11.

[2] Prescott, "Ferd. and Isab.," p. 376, n.

[3] Mariana, ix. 10.

[4] See p. 57. Recent history affords a similar instance from the Christian side. See "Gordon in Central Africa," p. 54--"I have made them make a mosque, and keep the Ramadhan." _Ibid._, p. 249, "I had the mosque cleared out and restored for wors.h.i.+p, and endowed the priests and crier, and had a great ceremony at the opening of it.... They blessed me and cursed Zebehr Pasha who took the mosque from them. To me it appears that the Mussulman wors.h.i.+ps G.o.d as well as I do, and is as acceptable, if sincere, as any Christian."

[5] Such as secretary, farmer of taxes, or even prime minister.

Among the great functionaries of state there was one who held the office of Kitabatu-dh-dhimam, which, being interpreted, is "the office of protection." The Christians and Jews were under his general jurisdiction, and were called "the people of the protection."[1] But besides this Arab "Secretary of State for the Christians," the latter had their own counts--a relic of the Gothic system--who, however, did not always stand up for their interests.[2] There were also Christian censors,[3] but it is not known what position they held in the State.

The young Christian cadets of n.o.ble birth were brought up at Court, and numbers of Sclavonian Christians served in the king's bodyguard, of whom under Hakem I. (796-822) there were 2000.[4]

[1] Al Makk., i. p. 103; and De Gayangos' note, p. 398.

[2] _E.g._. Servandus. Cp. also Cypria.n.u.s.

[3] See above, p. 49.

[4] Conde, i. p. 260.

All things considered, it is a matter for surprise that these two peoples, so unlike in race, habits, prejudices, and religion, lived so comparatively quietly side by side in spite of a perpetual state of warfare between the Arabs and the Christians in the North, which tended to keep alive the animosities of the two races in that part of Spain which was under Mohammedan rule.[1] Moreover, the pride of race was very strong in the pure-blooded Arabs. Thus the poet Said ibn Djoud, in a poem called the "battle of the town" (Polei), boasts that the conquerors are of the pure race of Adnan and Kahtan, without any foreign admixture; while he calls the defeated Spaniards miscreants, followers of a false faith,[2] sons of the pale-faces. The haughty Arabs, in fact, were too p.r.o.ne to look upon all the Spaniards, both renegades and Christians, as mere canaille.[3]

But, in spite of this, the races to a certain extent amalgamated; and Eulogius endeavours to prove that, but for the outbreak of fanaticism in the middle of the ninth century, this amalgamation would have had serious results for Christianity in Spain.[4]

The Arabs did not disdain to seek the alliance of the free Christian States, nor were the latter averse from doing the same, when political occasion demanded it. As early as 798 the Walis of the frontier cities sought to make themselves independent by what the Arab writer describes as "vile policy and unworthy acts," _i.e._, by seeking the friends.h.i.+p of the Christian kings;[5] and there are many instances of these kings asking aid, even servilely, from Arab princes.[6]

[1] Dozy, ii. 108, puts the distinction between the races very forcibly:--"Ce peuple qui joignait a une gaite franche et vive une sensualite raffinee devait inspirer aux pretres, qui aimaient les retraites eternelles et profondes, les grands renoncements et les terribles expiations, une repugnance extreme et invincible."

[2] Dozy, ii. 223.

[3] "C'etait leur terme consacree." Dozy, ii. 211.

[4] "Heu pro dolor! quia esse sub Gentibus delicias computamus, iugumque c.u.m infidelibus ducere non renitimur. Et inde ex cotidiano usu illorum sacrilegiis plerumque utimur et magis ipsorum contubernia affectamus."--Eul., "Doc. Martyr," sec. 18.

[5] Conde, i. 244: "Chron. Alb.," vi. sec. 58: "Chron. Lib.,"

sec. 30.

[6] Al Makkari, ii. 161, Ordono the Bad and Hakem II.

Again, as was inevitable from the nature of the case, intermarriages were common between the two races. The example was early set by the widow of Roderic, the last Gothic king, marrying Abdulaziz, son of Musa.

The sons of Witiza also married Arab women, and Sarah, the daughter of one of these princes, was the progenetrix of a n.o.ble family of Arabs, one of her descendants being the historian, Ibn al Kuttiya, which means son of the Gothic princess.[1] Abdurrahman Ana.s.sir, the greatest of all the Spanish Sultans, was the son of a Christian slave, named Maria,[2]

and the mighty Almanzor had for grandmother the daughter of a renegade Christian.[3] These are some instances, but it is not necessary to dwell on what was so common an occurrence as intermarriage between the peoples, and is forbidden neither by the Koran,[4] nor by the Bible.

However, there is one point in this connection which deserves a more particular notice. The intermingling of the races has been supposed to have been facilitated in part by the yearly tribute of 100 maidens paid by the northern kings to the earlier Arab Sultans. Modern historians mostly throw doubt upon the story, saying that of the early historians none mention it, and that the Arabs do not even allude to it.[5] But if Conde is to be trusted, an Arab writer does speak of it, as of a thing well known. In a letter of Omar[6] ibn Alaftas Almudafar, King of Algarve, to Alfonso VI., in 1086, occur the words:--"Do thou remember the time of Mohammed Almanzor, and bring to thy mind those treaties wherein thy forefathers offered him the homage even of their own daughters, and sent him those damsels in tribute even to the land of our rule."

[1] Al Makkari, ii. 15, 22, and De Gayangos' note, p. 454.

[2] Conde, i. 364.

[3] Dozy, iii. 124.

[4] Koran, v. 5:--"Ye are allowed to marry free women of those that have received the Scriptures before you."

[5] Dunham, ii. 131: Romey's "Histoire d'Espagne," iii. 276.

[6] Conde, ii. 238: Al Makkari, ii. 256, calls him Omar ibn Mohammed etc ibn Alafthas Almutawakkel, King of Badajos.

The maiden tribute is the subject of several ancient ballads by the Christian Spaniards. The following are two verses from one of these:--

"For he who gives the Moorish king a hundred maids of Spain Each year when in the season the day comes round again; If he be not a heathen he swells the heathen's train-- 'Twere better burn a kingdom than suffer such disdain!

"If the Moslems must have tribute, make men your tribute-money, Send idle drones to tease them within their hives of honey; For, when 'tis paid with maidens, from every maid there spring Some five or six strong soldiers to serve the Moorish king."[1]

Southey also says that the only old Portuguese ballad known to him was on this subject. The evidence, then, of the ballads is strong for a fact of this kind, telling, too, as it does, so much against the writers of the ballads.[2]

As to the Christian chroniclers, it is quite true that we find no mention of this tribute in the history of Sebastian of Salamanca and the Chronicle of Albeldum, but there is a direct allusion to it in a doc.u.ment included in the collection of Florez.[3] "Our ancestors," says Ramiro, "the kings of the land--we blush to record it--to free themselves from the raids of the Saracens, consented to pay them yearly a shameful tribute of a hundred maidens distinguished for their beauty, fifty of n.o.ble birth, and fifty from the people." It was to put an end to this nefarious tribute that Ramiro now ordered a levy _en ma.s.se_.

This, if the doc.u.ment is genuine (and Florez gives no hint to the contrary), is good evidence for the fact. Many succeeding writers mention it. Lucas of Tuy[4] says that Ramiro was asked for the tribute in 842. Johannes Vasaeus[5] speaks of it, as also Alfonso, Bishop of Burgos;[6] and lastly, Rodrigo of Toledo[7] says that Mauregatus (783-788), having obtained the throne of Leon by Saracen help, agreed to send this tribute yearly.

On the whole, then, the evidence is in favour of the maiden tribute being no myth, but of its having been regularly paid for more than fifty years. Most of these Christian maidens probably embraced the religion of their husbands, but in some cases they no doubt converted them to their own faith.

From different causes, some of which will be mentioned elsewhere, conversions were frequent from one religion to the other. Motives of worldly interest naturally caused the balance in these to fall very much against the Christians, but as the Mohammedan power declined the opposite was the case. Though voluntary apostasy was, and is, unpardonable, Mohammed seems to have made allowances for those who apostatized under compulsion; for when one of his followers, Ammar ibn Yaser, being tortured by the Koreish, renounced his belief in G.o.d and in Mohammed's mission, but afterwards came weeping to the Prophet, Mohammed received him kindly, and, wiping his eyes, said: "What fault was it of thine, if they forced thee?"[8]

[1] Lockhart.

[2] Unless the ballads were written later than 1250--_i.e._, after Rodrigo of Toledo had made the story known by his history.