Chapter V · THE SPREAD OF ISLAM AMONG THE CHRISTIANS OF SPAIN.
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In 711 the victorious Arabs introduced Islam into Spain: in 1502 an edict of Ferdinand and Isabella forbade the exercise of the Muhammadan religion throughout the kingdom. During the centuries that elapsed between these two dates, Muslim Spain had written one of the brightest pages in the history of mediæval Europe. Her influence had passed through Provence into the other countries of Europe, bringing into birth a new poetry and a new culture, and it was from her that Christian scholars received what of Greek philosophy and science they had to stimulate their mental activity up to the time of the Renaissance. But these triumphs of the civilised life—art and poetry, science and philosophy—we must pass over here and fix our attention on the religious condition of Spain under the Muslim rule.
The Muhammadans received as warm a welcome from the slaves, whose condition under the Gothic rule was a very miserable one, and whose knowledge of Christianity was too superficial to have any weight when compared with the liberty and numerous advantages they gained, by throwing in their lot with the Muslims.
Taking into consideration the ardent religious feeling that animated the mass of the Spanish Muslims and the provocation that the Christians gave to the Muhammadan government through their treacherous intrigues with their co-religionists over the border, the history of Spain under Muhammadan rule is singularly free from persecution. With the exception of three or four cases of genuine martyrdom, the only approach to anything like persecution during the whole period of the Arab rule is to be found in the severe measures adopted by the Muhammadan government to repress the madness for voluntary martyrdom that broke out in Cordova in the ninth century. At this time a fanatical party came into existence among the Christians in this part of Spain (for apparently the Christian Church in the rest of the country had no sympathy with the movement), which set itself openly and unprovokedly to insult the religion of the Muslims and blaspheme their Prophet, with the deliberate intention of incurring the penalty of death by such misguided assertion of their Christian bigotry.
But under the Berber dynasty of the Almoravids at the beginning of the twelfth century, there was an outburst of fanaticism on the part of the theological zealots of Islam in which the Christians had to suffer along with the Jews and the liberal section of the Muhammadan population—the philosophers, the poets and the men of letters. But such incidents are exceptions to the generally tolerant character of the Muhammadan rulers of Spain towards their Christian subjects.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Baudissin, p. 22. ↑Note 2 · Helfferich, p. 68. ↑Note 3 · Makkarī, vol. i. pp. 280–2. ↑Note 4 · Baudissin, p. 7. ↑Note 5 · Dozy (2), tome ii. pp. 45–6. ↑Note 6 · A. Müller, vol. ii. p. 463. ↑Note 7 · Dozy (2), tome ii. pp. 44–6. ↑Note 8 · So St. Boniface (A.D. 745, Epist. lxii.). “Sicut aliis gentibus Hispaniæ et Provinciæ et Burgundionum populis contigit, quæ sic a Deo recedeNote 9 · Dozy (3), tome i. pp. 15–20. Whishaw, pp. 38, 44. ↑Note 10 · Samson, pp. 377–8, 381. ↑Note 11 · Dozy (2), tome ii. p. 210. ↑Note 12 · Bishop Egila, who was sent to Southern Spain by Pope Hadrian I, towards the end of the eighth century, on a mission to counteract the growinNote 13 · Alvari Cordubensis, Epist. xix. “Ob meritum æternæ retributionis devovi me sedulum in lege Domini consistere.” (Migne: Patr. Lat., tom. cxxiNote 14 · Helfferich, pp. 79–80. ↑Note 15 · “Bedenkt man nun, wie wichtig gerade die alttestamentliche Idee des Prophetenthums in der Christologie des germanischen Arianismus nachklangNote 16 · Lucæ Diaconi Tudensis Chronicon Mundi. (Andreas Schottus: Hispaniæ Illustratæ, tom. iv. p. 53.) (Francofurti, 1603–8.) ↑Note 17 · Dozy (2), tome ii. p. 41. Whishaw, p. 17. ↑Note 18 · Dozy (2), tome ii. p. 39. ↑Note 19 · Baudissin, pp. 11–13, 196. ↑Note 20 · Eulogius: Mem. Sanct., lib. i. § 30, “inter ipsos sine molestia fidei degimus” (p. 761). Id., ib., lib. i. § 18, “Quos nulla præsidialis vioNote 21 · Baudissin, pp. 16–17. ↑Note 22 · Eulogius, ob. 859 (Mem. Sanct. lib. iii. c. 3) speaks of churches recently erected (ecclesias nuper structas). The chronicle falsely ascribeNote 23 · Eulogius: Mem. Sanct., lib. iii. c. 11 (p. 812). ↑Note 24 · Baudissin, p. 16. ↑Note 25 · Id. p. 21, and John of Gorz, § 128 (p. 306). ↑Note 26 · Whishaw, pp. 272, 301. ↑Note 27 · Dozy (2), tome ii. p. 42. ↑Note 28 · Baudissin, pp. 96–7. ↑Note 29 · See the letter of Pope Hadrian I to the Spanish bishops: “Porro diversa capitula quæ ex illis audivimus partibus, id est, quod multi dicenteNote 30 · Isidori Pacensis Chronicon, § 42 (p. 1266). ↑Note 31 · Alvar: Indic. Lum., § 35 (p. 53). John of Gorz, § 123 (p. 303). ↑Note 32 · Letter of Hadrian I, p. 385. John of Gorz, § 123 (p. 303). ↑Note 33 · Some Arabic verses of a Christian poet of the eleventh century are still extant, which exhibit considerable skill in handling the language aNote 34 · Abbot Samson gives us specimens of the bad Latin written by some of the ecclesiastics of his time, e.g. “Cum contempti essemus simplicitas cNote 35 · Alvar: Indic. Lum., § 35 (pp. 554–6). ↑Note 36 · Von Schack, vol. ii. p. 96. ↑Note 37 · Orderic Vitalis, p. 928. ↑Note 38 · Alvar: Ind. Lum., § 29. “Compositionem verborum, et preces omnium eius membrorum quotidie pro eo eleganti facundia, et venusto confectas eloNote 39 · Enhueber, § 26, p. 353. ↑Note 40 · Helfferich, p. 88. ↑Note 41 · “Postmodum transgressus legem Dei, fugiens ad paganos consentaneos, periuratus effectus est.” Frobenii dissertatio de hæresi Elipandi et FelNote 42 · Pseudo-Luitprandi Chronicon, § 341 (p. 1115). “Basilius Toletanum concilium contrahit; quo providetur, ne Christiani detrimentum acciperent Note 43 · There is little record of such, but they seem referred to in the following sentences of Eulogius (Liber Apologeticus Martyrum, § 20), on MuḥNote 44 · Dozy (2), tome ii. p. 53. ↑Note 45 · Lea, The Moriscos, pp. 17, 18. ↑Note 46 · Samson, p. 379. ↑Note 47 · Eulogius: Mem. Sanct. Pref., § 2. (Migne, tom. cxv. p. 737.) ↑Note 48 · Id. c. xiii. (p. 794.) ↑Note 49 · The number of the martyrs is said not to have exceeded forty. (W. H. Prescott: History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 34Note 50 · Dozy (2), tome ii. pp. 161–2. ↑Note 51 · Eulogius: Mem. Sanct. I, iii. c. vii. (p. 805). “Pro eo quod nullus sapiens, nemo urbanus, nullusque procerum Christianorum huiusce modi remNote 52 · Alvar: Ind. Lum., § 14. “Nonne ipsi qui videbantur columnæ, qui putabantur Ecclesiæ petræ, qui credebantur electi, nullo cogente, nemine proNote 53 · Alvar: Indic. Lum., § 15. “Quid obtendendum est de illis quos ecclesiastice interdiximus, et a quibus ne aliquando ad martyrii surgerent palNote 54 · Baudissin, p. 199. ↑Note 55 · Morgan, vol. ii. pp. 297–8, 345. ↑Note 56 · Id. p. 310. ↑Note 57 · Lea, The Moriscos, p. 259. ↑Note 58 · Morgan, vol. ii. p. 337. ↑Note 59 · Id. p. 289. ↑Note 60 · Stirling-Maxwell, vol. i. p. 115. ↑Note 61 · When the Muhammadans first brought their religion into Spain they found Catholic Christianity firmly established after its conquest over AriNote 62 · These down-trodden slaves were the first converts to Islam in Spain. The remnants of the heathen population of which we find mention as lateNote 63 · At the time of the Muhammadan conquest the old Gothic virtues are said by Christian historians to have declined and given place to effeminacNote 64 · But certainly as time went on, matters do not seem to have mended themselves; and when Christian bishops took part in the revels of the MuhaNote 65 · Had ecclesiastical writers cared to chronicle them, Spain would doubtless be found to offer instances of many a man leaving the Christian ChNote 66 · It is very possible, too, that the lingering remains of the old Gothic Arianism—of which, indeed, there had been some slight revival in the Note 67 · Of forced conversion or anything like persecution in the early days of the Arab conquest, we hear nothing. Indeed, it was probably in a greaNote 68 · Except in the case of offences against the Muslim religious law, the Christians were tried by their own judges and in accordance with their Note 69 · We read also of the founding23 of several fresh monasteries in addition to the numerous convents both for monks and nuns that flourished undNote 70 · Certainly those Christians who could reconcile themselves to the loss of political power had little to complain of, and it is very noticeablNote 71 · The toleration of the Muhammadan government towards its Christian subjects in Spain and the freedom of intercourse between the adherents of Note 72 · The very term Muzarabes (i.e. mustʻaribīn or Arabicised) applied to the Spanish Christians living under Arab rule, is significant of the tenNote 73 · In fact the knowledge of Latin so much declined in one part of Spain that it was found necessary to translate the ancient Canons of the SpanNote 74 · While the brilliant literature of the Arabs exercised such a fascination and was so zealously studied, those who desired an education in ChrNote 75 · From such close intercourse with the Muslims and so diligent a study of their literature—when we find even so bigoted an opponent of Islam aNote 76 · It may readily be understood how these influences of Islamic thought and practice—added to definite efforts at conversion43—would lead to muNote 77 · We have little or no details of the history of the conversion of these New-Muslims. Instances appeared to have occurred right up to the lastNote 78 · This strange passion for self-immolation displayed itself mainly among priests, monks and nuns between the years 850 and 860. It would seem Note 79 · One of the Spanish Muhammadans who was driven out of his native country in the last expulsion of the Moriscoes in 1610, while protesting agaNote 80 · This very spirit of toleration was made one of the main articles in an account of the “Apostacies and Treasons of the Moriscoes,” drawn up bNote 81 · What deep roots Islam had struck in the hearts of the Spanish people may be judged from the fact that when the last remnant of the MoriscoesNote 82 · We first hear of the Ottoman Turks at the commencement of the thirteenth century, when fleeing before the Mongols, to the number of about 50Note 83 · From the earliest days of the extension of their kingdom in Asia Minor, the Ottomans exercised authority over Christian subjects, but it wasNote 84 · Consequently, though the Greeks were numerically superior to the Turks in all the European provinces of the empire, the religious tolerationNote 85 · There is, however, one notable exception to this general good treatment and toleration, viz. the tribute of Christian children, who were forNote 86 · Further, the Christian subjects of the Turkish empire had to pay the capitation-tax, in return for protection and in lieu of military servicNote 87 · But if we except the tribute of the children, to which the conquered Greeks seem to have submitted with so little show of resistance, and whNote 88 · The Turks considered that the greatest kindness they could show a man was to bring him into the salvation of the faith of Islam,49 and to thNote 89 · These zealous efforts for winning converts were rendered the more effective by certain conditions of Christian society itself. Foremost amonNote 90 · The faith of Islam would now be the natural refuge for those members of the Eastern Church who felt such yearnings after a purer and simplerNote 91 · Thomas Smith, who was in Constantinople in 1669, speaks of the number of Christian converts about this period, but assigns baser motives. “’Note 92 · Another feature in the condition of the Greek Church that contributed to the decay of its numbers, was the corruption and degradation of itsNote 93 · The extortions practised in the seventeenth have found their counterpart in the nineteenth century, and the sufferings of the Christians of Note 94 · Ecclesiastical oppression of a rather different character is said to have been responsible for the conversion of the ancestors of a small coNote 95 · Though the mass of the parish clergy were innocent of the charges brought against their superiors,94 still they were very ignorant and illitNote 96 · While there was so much in the Christian society of the time to repel, there was much in the character and life of the Turks to attract, andNote 97 · Even the behaviour of the soldiery receives its meed of praise. During the march of an army the inhabitants of the country, we are told by tNote 98 · Many a tribute of praise is given to the virtues of the Turks even by Christian writers who bore them no love; one such who had a very poor Note 99 · The same conclusion is drawn by a modern historian,100 who writes:—“We find that many Greeks of high talent and moral character were so sensNote 100 · A generation that has watched the decay of the Turkish power in Europe and the successive curtailment of its territorial possessions, and isNote 101 · The Christian slave who thus describes the doubts that arose in his mind as the slow-passing years brought no relief, doubtless gives expresNote 102 · Much of course depended upon the individual character of the different Christian slaves themselves. The anonymous writer, so often quoted abNote 103 · Conversion to Islam did not, as some writers have affirmed, release the slave from his captivity and make him a free man,115 for emancipatioNote 104 · There were many others who, like the Christian slaves, separated from early surroundings and associations, found themselves cut loose from oNote 105 · During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there would seem to have been a decay of the missionary spirit among the Turks, but the latte