Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/450

306 306 THE SPANISH ARABS. PART I. The impulse given liy them to Europe. Their ele- gant litera- ,ure. The influence of the Spanish Arabs, however, is discernible not so much in the amount of knowl- edge, as in the impulse, which they communicated to the long dormant energies of Europe. Their invasion was coeval with the commencement of that night of darkness, which divides the modern fi-om the ancient world. The soil had been im- poverished by long, assiduous cultivation. The Arabians came like a torrent, sweeping down and obliterating even the land-marks of former civiliza- tion, but bringing with it a fertilizing principle, which, as the waters receded, gave new life and loveliness to the landscape. The writings of the Saracens were translated and diffused throughout Europe. Their schools were visited by disciples, who, roused from their lethargy, caught somewhat of the generous enthusiasm of their masters ; and a healthful action was given to the European intel- lect, which, however ill directed at first, was thus prepared for the more judicious and successful efforts of later times. It is comparatively easy to determine the value pean Christians ; although Du Cange, among several examples which he enumerates, has traced a distinct notice of its existence as far back as 1338. (Glossarium ad Scriptores Media et Infimae Latinitatis, (Paris, 1739,) and Sup- plement, (Paris, 1766,) voce Bo)n- barda.) The history of the Spanish Arabs carries it to a much earlier period. It was employed by the Moorish king of Granada at the siege of Baza, in 1312 and 1325. (Condc,Dominacion delosArabcs, tom. iii. cap. 18. — Casiri, Biblio- theca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 7.) It is distinctly noticed in an Ara- bian treatise as ancient as 1249 ; and, finally, Casiri quotes a pas- sage from a Spanish author at the close of the eleventh century, (whose MS., according to Nic. Antonio, though familiar to schol- ars, lies still entombed in the dust of libraries,) which describes the use of artillery in a naval engage- ment of that period between the Moors of Tunis and of Seville. Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 8. — Nic. Antonio, Bib- liotheca Yetus, tom. ii. p. 12.