Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/339

 OMAYYADS, 822-1031.] SPAIN 315 man, a member of the Omayyad family, they obtained assistance from Count Sancho of Castile, marched upon Cordova, and inflicted a serious defeat upon the troops which Mohammed imprudently led out to meet them. Mohammed endeavoured to strengthen his position by producing Hisham II., whom he had given out as dead. But the Berbers refused to be turned from their purpose, and occupied Cordova in November 1009. The wretched Hisham was compelled to abdicate in favour of SoleimAn, and returned to his prison. Mohammed, who had escaped to Toledo, now turned for assistance to the Christians, who, by a sudden change of circumstances, had become the arbiters of Mohammedan affairs. With the help of troops from Catalonia he recovered Cordova, which had to pay in constant sieges a terrible penalty for the levity with which it had welcomed the fall of the Amirids. In pursuing the Berbers, however, Mohammed was again defeated. The Slavs, who had hitherto supported him for their own ends, determined to desert the unsuccessful caliph. HishArn II. was again dragged from prison to assume the throne, and Mohammed was murdered in his presence. WAdih, the leader of the Slavs, was now hf'ijib, and aspired to play the part of Almans6r. But his resources were at an end. An attempt to increase the taxes roused general indignation, and he was put to death by his own followers (1011). Two years later the nominal reign of Hisham II. came to an end. Cordova was taken by Soleiman and the Berbers, and the caliph disappeared (1013). His fate remains one of the unsolved secrets of history. Soleiman. Soleiman was now formally proclaimed caliph, but his power was more nominal than real. The provincial governors had taken advantage of the civil war to make themselves independent, and Soleiman's authority was only recognized by five towns Cordova, Seville, Niebla, Oksonoba, and Beja. Even within this district he soon found an opponent. The Slavs were unwilling to submit to the domination of the Berbers, whose excesses the caliph was unable to check. Their most powerful leader, Khairan, had been badly wounded in the late struggle, but on his recovery he determined to avenge his defeat. He found a capable ally in 'AH b. Hammud, a descendant of the famous son-in-law of the Prophet, but whose family had almost ceased to be Arab in their long residence in Africa. 'All relied not only upon the Slavs but also upon the Berbers, who regarded Soleiman with contempt, and looked upon 'All as a fellow-countryman. SoleimAn's government was easily overthrown (1016), but Khairan's attempt to discover HishAm II. was unsuccessful, and he had to acknowledge 'Ali as caliph and to content himself Ham- with the office of hdjib. The Hammiidite dynasty, thus mudites. established in Cordova, was not destined to enjoy a long tenure of power. Khairan revolted against a sovereign who was too able and spirited for the part of a Hisham II., and set up an anti-caliph in the person of another Omayyad, 'Abd al-Rahman IV., a great-grandson of 'Abd al-Rahman III., who took the name of MortadA. 'All was murdered in his bath (1017), but his supporters rallied Decline round his brother Kasim. For five years a confused civil war raged which was complicated by the hostility to Kasim of 'All's son, Yahya. In 1023 MortadA was slain in battle, and the Omayyad party gave the crown to another 'Abd al-Rahmdn, a brother of the detestable Mahdi. Two months later the young prince was murdered, but his successful rival, Mohammed b. 'Abd al-Rahman was driven from Cordova in 1025. The Hammudite caliph, Yahya, now occupied the capital, but was slain in attempt- ing to reduce the rebellious tvdli of Seville to obedience. HishAm III., a brother of 'Abd al-Rahman MortadA, was now raised to the throne. But all central government was by this time at an end ; no revenues could be drawn from the rebellious provinces; and in 1031 HishAm abdicated a title which had ceased to have any meaning, and sought peace and retirement in the neighbourhood of Saragossa. His death five years later was almost unnoticed even in Cordova. With him ended the Omayyad dynasty, which had ruled in Spain for nearly three centuries, and which had produced princes worthy to be ranked with the greatest of their contemporaries. Its decline dates from the time when it allowed power to slip from its hands and to be Avielded by ambitious ministers. Ever since the death of Almans6r Moslem Spain had been gradually splitting up into a number of independent principalities. With the extinction of the Omayyads the last semblance of unity disappeared. " The Berber generals shared the south ; the Slavs ruled in the east ; the rest was divided either among successful adventurers or among the small number of noble families who had been fortunate enough to escape the blows which 'Abd al-RahmAn and Almans6r had struck at the aristocracy. Finally, the two most considerable towns, Cordova and Seville, were organized as republics" (Dozy). Into the history of the numerous dynasties which were established during this period it is impossible to enter here, but the reader will find the subject not only fully but attractively treated in the fourth volume of Dozy's Histoire des Musulmans dEs- j>tif/ne. See also Plate VII. It was of additional moment that this disruption of the Mussulman power was contemporary with the formation of the great Christian states of Aragon and Castile. They were not slow to profit by the opportunity held out to them. It was in this century that the Christian cause found a champion in the famous Ruy Diaz Campeador, who under the name of " The Cid " became the traditional hero of Spanish mediaeval history. Ferdinand I. of Castile (1037-1067) captured the strong places of Viseu, Lamego, and Coimbra, and was only diverted from the conquest of Toledo by the humble submission of the emir, who undertook to pay tribute to the Christian king. The unfortunate division of his territories between his three sons gave occasion to civil wars, which were only ter- minated in 1072 by the reunion of the whole kingdom under Alfonso VI. Following up his father's successes, Alfonso made himself master of Toledo, which once more became the capital of a Christian state. Meanwhile Ramiro I. of Aragon (1035-1063) drove the Moors from their last possessions in the counties of Aragon and Sobrarbe. His son, Sancho Ramirez (1063-1094), joined Alfonso VI. in an attack on Navarre which resulted in the partition of that state between the two kings, and commenced a war against the emir of Saragossa which ended, under his successors Pedro (1094-1104) and Alfonso I. (1104-1136), in the conquest of Huesca and Saragossa. The latter town became henceforth the recog- nized capital of Aragon. This period is also important in another aspect. Hitherto the Christian kingdoms of Spain had been naturally isolated from the rest of Europe. But the papacy, under the guiding hand of Hildebrand (Gregory VII.), was now making its ecclesiastical supremacy a reality, and was not likely to tolerate independence even in the most distant members of the church. Aragon, which lay nearest to the other states of Western Christen- dom, made little difficulty about complying with the papal demands. Ramiro not only agreed to adopt the Roman ritual in his kingdom, but even sent tribute to Alexander II. Castile, lying farther distant, was more inclined to resent dictation. At a council at Burgos (1077) it was formally decided to retain the Gothic ritual. But Alfonso VI. realized the danger of isolating his state from the rest States of Castile Relations ^ lth "'