Christianity and Islam in Spain, A.D. 756-1031 Part 3

CHAPTER III.

THE MARTYRDOMS AT CORDOVA.

Abdurrahman Ibn Muawiyah landed in Spain with 750 Berber hors.e.m.e.n in May 756. The Khalifate of Cordova may be said to begin with this date, though it was many years before the new sultan had settled his power on a firm basis, or was recognised as ruler by the whole of Moslem Spain.

During the forty-five years of civil warfare which intervened between the invasion of Tarik and the landing of Abdurrahman, we have very little knowledge of what the Christians were doing. The Arab historians are too busy recounting the feuds of their own tribes to pay any particular attention to the subject Christians. But we may gather that the latter were, on the whole, fairly content with their new servitude.[1] The Moslems were not very anxious to proselytize, as the conversion of the Spaniards meant a serious diminution of the tribute.[2] Those Christians who did apostatize--and we may believe that they were chiefly slaves--at once took up a position of legal, though not social, equality with the other Moslems. It is no wonder that the slaves became Mohammedans, for, apart from their hatred for their masters, and the obvious temporal advantage of embracing Islam, the majority of them knew nothing at all about Christianity.[3] The ranks of the converts were recruited from time to time by those who went over to Islam to avoid paying the poll-tax, or even to escape the payment of some penalty inflicted by the Christian courts.[4] One thing is noticeable. In the early years of the conquest there was none of that bitterness displayed between the adherents of the rival creeds, to which we are so accustomed in later times. Isidore of Beja, the only contemporary Christian authority, though he rhapsodizes about the devastations committed by the conquerors, and complains of enormous tributes exacted, yet speaks more fairly about the Moslems[5] than any other Spanish writer before the fourteenth century. "If he hates the conquerors," says Dozy,[6] "he hates them rather as men of another race than of another creed;" and the marriage of Abdulaziz and Egilona awakens in his mind no sentiment of horror.

[1] This was not so when the fierce Almoravides and fiercer Almohades overran Spain in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

See Freeman's "Saracens," p. 168.

[2] As happened in Egypt under Amru. See Cardonne, i. p. 168, and Gibbon, vi. p. 370.

[3] Dozy, ii. 45, quotes a pa.s.sage from Pedraca, "Histor.

Eccles. of Granada" (1638), in which the author points out that even in his day the "old Christians" of Central Spain were so wholly ignorant of all Christian doctrines that they might be expected to renounce Christianity with the utmost ease if again subjected to the Moors.

[4] Samson, "Apolog.," ii. cc. 3, 5.

[5] Speaking of Omar, the second Khalif of that name, Isidore, sec. 46, says, "Tanta ei sanctimonia ascribitur quanta nulli unquam ex Arab.u.m gente."

[6] Dozy, ii. p. 42.

On the whole the condition of the ma.s.s of the people, Christian or renegade, was certainly preferable to their state before the conquest.[1] Those serfs who remained Christian, if they worked on State lands, payed one-third of the produce to the State; if on private lands, four-fifths to their Arab owners.[2] The free Christians retained their goods, and could even alienate their lands. They paid a graduated tax varying from thirteen pounds to three guineas.[3] In all probability the Christians under Moslem rule were not worse off than their coreligionists in Galicia and Leon. A signal proof of this is afforded by the fact that, in spite of the distracted state of the country, which would seem to hold out a great hope of success, we hear of no attempts at revolt on the part of the subjected Christians in the eighth century, except at Beja, where the Christians seem to have been led away by the ambition of an Arab chief.[4] They were even somewhat indifferent to the cause of their coreligionists in the North, and the attempts which Pelayo and his successors made to induce them to rise in concert with their brethren met with but scant success.[5]

[1] See especially Conde, Pref. p. vi.

[2] Dozy, ii. 39.

[3] Dozy, ii. 40.

[4] Dozy, ii. 42.

[5] Cardonne, i. 106.

There can be no doubt, however, that the good understanding, which at first existed between the Moslems and their Christian subjects, gradually gave place to a very different state of things, owing in no small degree to the free Christians in the North, whose presence on their borders was a continual menace to the Moslem dominion, and a perpetual incentive to the subject Christians to rise and a.s.sert their freedom.

Our purpose now is to trace out, so far as the scanty indications scattered in the writers of the time will allow, the relations that existed between the two religions during the 275 years of the Khalifate, and the influence which these relations had upon the development of the one and the other. It will be agreeable to the natural arrangement to take the former question first.

With a view to the better understanding of the position of Christianity and Mohammedanism at the very beginning of our inquiry, we have thought it advisable to point out in a preliminary sketch the development of Christianity in Spain previous to the period when the Moslems, fresh from their native deserts of Arabia and Africa, bearing the sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, possessed themselves of one of the fairest provinces of Christendom. This having been already done, we can at once proceed to investigate the mutual relations of Christianity and Mohammedanism in Spain during the 300 years of the Khalifate of Cordova.

It was in fulfilment of a supposed prophecy of Mohammed's, and in obedience to the precepts of the Koran itself, that the Arabs, having overrun Syria, Egypt, and Africa, pa.s.sed over into Spain, and the war from the very first took the character of a jehad, or religious war--a character which it retained with the ever-increasing fanaticism of the combatants until every Mohammedan had been forced to abjure his creed, or been driven out of Spain. But, as we have seen, the conquest itself was singularly free from any outbursts of religious frenzy; though of course there must have been many Christians, who laid down their lives in defence of all that was near and dear to them, in defence of their wives and their children, their homes and their country, their religion and their honour. One such instance at least has been recorded by the Arab historians,[1] when the Governor, and 400 of the garrison, of Cordova, after three months' siege in the church of St George, chose rather to be burnt in their hold than surrender upon condition either of embracing Islam, or paying tribute.

Omitting the story of the fabulous martyr Nicolaus, as being a tissue of errors and absurdities,[2] the first martyr properly so called was a certain bishop, named Anambad, who was put to death by Othman ibn abi Nesah (727-728)--a governor guilty of shedding much Christian blood, if Isidore is to be believed.[3]

[1] Al Makkari, i. 279, says: "This was the cause of the spot being called ever since the Kenisatu-l-haraki (the church of the burnt), as likewise of the great veneration in which it has always been held by the Christians, on account of the courage and endurance displayed in the cause of their religion by those who died in it."

[2] Florez, "Espana Sagr," xiv. 392.

[3] Isidore, sec. 58, "Munuza quia a sanguine Christianorum, quen ibidem innocentem fuderat, nimium erat c.r.a.pulatus, et Anabadi, ill.u.s.tris episcopi,... quem ipse cremaverat, valde exhaustus," etc. It is doubtful who this Munuza was, but probably Othman ibn abi Nesah, Governor of Spain.

Fifteen years later a Christian named Peter, pursuing very much the same tactics as the pseudo-martyrs in the next century, brought about his own condemnation and death. He held a responsible post under Government, that of receiver of public imposts, and seems to have stood on terms of friends.h.i.+p with many of the Arab n.o.bles. Perhaps he had been rather lax in his religious observances, or even disguised his Christianity from motives of interest. However, he fell sick, and thinking that his life was near its end, he called together his Moslem friends, and thanking them for showing their concern for him by coming, he proceeded, "But I desire you to be witnesses of this my last will. Whosoever believeth not on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Consubstantial Trinity, is blind in heart, and deserveth eternal punishment, as also doth Mohammed, your false prophet, the forerunner of Antichrist. Renounce, therefore, these fables, I conjure you this day, and let heaven and earth witness between us." Though greatly incensed, as was natural, the hearers resolved to take no notice of these and other like words, charitably supposing the sick man to be light-headed; but Peter, having unexpectedly recovered, repeated his former condemnation of Mohammed, cursing him, his book, and his followers. Thereupon he was executed, and we cannot be altogether surprised at it.[1]

Besides these two isolated cases of martyrdom, we do not find any more recorded until the reign of Abdurrahman II. (May 822-Aug. 852). In the second year of this king's reign, two Christians, John and Adulphus, making public profession of their faith, and denouncing Mohammed, were put to death on Sept 17, 824.[2]

[1] We give the account as Fleury, v. 88 (Bk. 42), gives it, but with great doubts as to its genuineness, no other writer that we have seen mentioning it.

[2] Florez, x. 358: Fleury, v. 487. They were buried in St Cyprian's Church, Cordova. See "De translatione martyrum Georgii etc.," sec. 7.

This is the first definite indication we have that the toleration shown by the Moslems was beginning to be abused by their Christian subjects; and there can be no reasonable doubt that this ill-advised conduct on the part of the latter was the main cause of the so-called persecution which followed. But besides this fanaticism on the part of a small section of the subject Christians, there were other causes at work calculated to produce friction between the two peoples. During the century which had elapsed since the conquest, the Christians and Mohammedans, living side by side under the same government, and one which, considering the times in which it arose, was remarkable no less for its equity and moderation than for its external splendour and magnificence, had gradually been drawn closer together. Intermarriages had become frequent among them;[1] and these proved the fruitful cause of religious dissensions. Accordingly we find that the religious troubles in the reigns of Abdurrahman II. (822-852) and Mohammed I.

(852-886) began with the execution of two children of mixed parents.

Nunilo and Alodia were the children of a Moslem father and a Christian mother. Their father was a tolerant man, and, apparently, while he lived, permitted his children to profess the faith of their mother. On his death, the mother married again, and the new husband, being a bigoted Mohammedan, and actuated, as we may suppose, by the _odio vitrici_, immediately set about reclaiming his step-children to the true faith of Islam, his efforts in this direction leading him to ill-treat, even to torture,[2] the young confessors. His utmost endeavour to effect their conversion failing, he delivered them over to the judge on the charge of apostasy, and the judge to the executioner, by whom they were beheaded on Oct. 21, 840.[3]

[1] Due in part no doubt to the marriage of captives. See also below for "the maiden tribute," pp. 96, 97.

[2] So Miss Yonge.

[3] This date is given by Morales, apud Migne, vol. cxv. p.

886, and by Fleury, v. 487, who accuse Eulogius, "Mem. Sanct.,"

ii. c. 10, of being in error when he a.s.signs the date 851. The Pseudo-Luitprand gives 951, vouching for this date as an eye-witness: "Me vivente, in castro Wergeti, id est Castellon, etc."

Though there were some cases of martyrdom of this character, where the sufferers truly earned their t.i.tle of martyrs,--and we may believe that all such cases have not been recorded--yet the vast majority of those which followed in the years 851-860 were of a different type. They were due to an outbreak of fanatical zeal on the part of a certain section of the Christians such as to overpower the spirit of toleration, which the Moslem authorities had so far shown in dealing with their Christian subjects, and to raise a corresponding tide of bigotry in the less enlightened, and therefore more intolerant, ma.s.ses of the Mohammedans.

The sudden mania for martyrdom which manifested itself at this time is certainly the most remarkable phenomenon of the kind that has been recorded in the annals of the Christian Church. There had been occasional instances before of Christians voluntarily offering themselves to undergo the penalty of the laws for the crime of being Christians. One such instance in the case of a Phrygian, named Quintus, had caused grave scandal to the Church of Smyrna; for, having gone before the proconsul and professed himself ready to die for the faith, when the reality of the death, which he courted, had been brought home to him by the sight of the wild beasts ready to rend him, the courage of the Phrygian had failed, and he had offered incense to the G.o.ds. Africa also had had her self-accused martyrs.

But the Spanish confessors have an interest over and above these, both by reason of their number and the constancy which they displayed in their self-imposed task. Not a single instance is recorded, though there may have been some such, where the would-be martyr from fear or any other cause forwent his crown. Moreover these martyrdoms, by dividing the Church on the question of their merit, whether, that is, the victims were to be ranked as true martyrs or not, and, giving rise to a written controversy on the subject, has supplied us with ample, if rather one-sided, materials for estimating the provocation given, and received, on either side.

As time went on, and the Christians and Moslems mingled more closely together in political and social life, the Church no doubt suffered some deterioration. Every interested motive was enlisted in favour of dropping as far as possible out of sight[1] those distinctive features of Christianity which might be calculated to give offence to the Moslems; of conforming to all those Mohammedan customs, which are not in the Bible expressly forbidden to a Christian;[2] and, generally, of emphasizing the points on which Christianity agrees with Mohammedanism, and ignoring those (far more important ones) in which they differ. The Moslems had no such reason for dissembling their convictions, or modifying their tenets. Consequently a spiritual paralysis was creeping upon the Church, which threatened in the course of time, if not checked, to destroy the very life of Christianity throughout the peninsula. The case of Africa, from which Islam had extirpated Christianity, showed that this was no imaginary danger. But Spain had this advantage over Africa: it contained a free Christian community which had never pa.s.sed under the Moslem yoke, where the fire of Christianity, in danger of being swept away by the devouring flames of Mohammedanism, might be nursed and cherished, till it could again blaze forth with its former brilliancy.

[1] See below, p. 72, note 5.

[2] _E.g.,_ circ.u.mcision.

Yet in Mohammedan Spain religious fervour was not wholly vanished: it was still to be found among the clergy, and specially among the dwellers in convents. Monks and nuns, severed from all worldly influences, in the silence of their cloisters, would read the lives of the Saints[1] of old, and meditate upon their glorious deeds, and the miracles which their faith had wrought. They would brood over such texts as, "Ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake;"[2] and, "Every one who shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father, which is in Heaven;"[3] till they brought themselves to believe that it was their imperative duty to bring themselves before rulers and kings, and not only to confess Christ, but to revile Mohammed.

[1] See Dozy, ii. 112.

[2] St Mark xiii. 9.

[3] St Matt. x. 32.

However, the reproach of fanatical self-destruction will not apply, as the apologists of their doings have not failed to point out, to the first two victims that suffered in this persecution.

Perfectus,[1] a priest of Cordova, who had been brought up in the school attached to the church of St Acislus, on going out one day to purchase some necessaries for domestic use, was stopped by some of the Moslems in the street, and asked to give his opinion of their Prophet. What led them to make this strange request, we are not told,[2] but stated thus barely it certainly gives us the impression that it was intended to bring the priest into trouble. For it was a well-known law in Moslem countries that if any one cursed a Mohammedan, he was to be scourged,[3]

if he struck him, killed: the latter penalty also awaiting any one who spoke evil of Mohammed, and extending even to a Mussulman ruler, if he heard the blasphemy without taking notice of it.[4] Perfectus, therefore, being aware of this law, gave a cautious[5] answer, declining to comply with their request until they swore that he should receive no hurt in consequence of what he might say. On their giving the required stipulation, he quoted the words, "For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect,"[6] and proceeded to speak of Mohammed in the usual fas.h.i.+on, as a lying impostor and a dissolute adulterer, concluding with the words, "Thus hath he, the encourager of all lewdness, and the wallower in his own filthy l.u.s.ts, delivered you all over to the indulgence of an everlasting sensuality."

This ill-advised abuse of one, whom the Moslems revere as we revere Christ, and the ungenerous advantage taken of the oath, which they had made, naturally incensed his hearers to an almost uncontrollable degree.

They respected their promise, however, and refrained from laying hands on him at that time, with the intention, says Eulogius, of revenging themselves on a future occasion.[7]