Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-04-30

themselves. The khal1fate, TRANSFERRED
from the Ommiade dynasty from Me-
una 70 Damascus, and upon which all
Mussuimans were supposed to depend.
was rent by factions. The Ommiades
were themselves massacred by tho
Abassldes. rival house. Only one Om1
niiaue escaped, the boy Abderrahman.
after romantic wanderings he reached
Cordova III 155. was accepted by all tho
Nussulmans In Spain as their riphtful
sovereign and took the title of IIlnir-
lei-Moumenin. or Chief Of the Believers
for three centuries Cordova. on the
,Guauaiouivir was the capital of the
knailIate or the west. With no foe to
ieal, 1t, became u splendid CITY. and de-
Veloped in high degree every feature of
oriental civilization. Its INHABITANTS
numbered almost a million, and it con-
talned $40 MOSQUES. The Jews were
protected. and the Christians. while
carefully kept in position OF in
leriorlty, were seldom harshly treated.
IL was the golden age of Mussulmon
SPAN. Abderrahman I. (755. Hescham
l., t'oD, Apderrahman III. (S22) and All
ihaham III. (96l) displayed upon the
Inrone the virtues OF beneficent despots
Ihen confusion took the place of order
In lu5l the late Ommiade-Hescham
was denosed. His kingdom broke into
the seven main emirates OF Badaioz.
sevilie, Cordova. Toledo, Granada, VAL
encia and Saragossa. Jealous Of e,cl,
other. they Invited attack by their
riVairies and dssensions The very
name OF kaliph was soon forgotten.
Meanwhile the Christians in the AS
'urias were increasing constantly in
SslrenGtn ana numbers and were spread
ing their power southwark. GraduolIv
the tiny Kingdoms of Leon. CastiIo
Navarro and Aragon had taken shane
ou ttrcssed against the mountains Mt
iist they resembled fortresscs and bnr-
u ,ans domains rather than states. In
no, hermudo H., King of Leon and last
mae descendant of the heroic Ioelayo
died. His crown was united with INT
-. MS Drother-in-law, Ferdinand
KING OF CASTLE. Though the union vos
temporary. the movement had bcgun
Whch was to blend the several pettv
ninsuoils INTO u single whole and III
! llmately deal the death blow to the
Moorish occupation. In 1855 Tnlayera.
ana Toledo, the old-timc capitaI wern
relaken from the N1oors by AIDhonso
VI OF Leon and CASTLE. The Spanish
fe"ccupation Of the country had reached
the Tasus.
But the pope preached n crusade
casti!e Navarro and Aragon ceased
nShting against each other and for Tho
| Iist time united in Il common cause,
Inc batiie of Las Navas de Tolosa in
III was the one irrctrievable disaster
Of Moorish history. The vanuuIshed
ieIt tens of thousands of dead upan the
! ned, and never afterward We're able TO
| encounter the Spanards on equal
terms. Gradually they withdrew to
! NE south and held only the territory
| between ti4e Guadalquivir and the Med
| iterrancan sea-. Cordova itself. their
| sacred city. the center of their litera-
/ trrc and art the home of the Ommi-
ade kaliphs. fell before the sword of
! ferdinand III. Of CASTLE III 1885 as did
! four years later Valencia before JAYNE
| L.. the conqueror. king OF Aragon. L.
! ter came the victory of Tarifa when
/ Portugal. CASTLE and Aragon combined
/ to humble About Hassan the emperor
/ ni Morocco, who had landed with an
! immense army.
~ last nothing remained 10 the Mus
| su.mans except the tiny Kingdom of
Granada. The surrender OF its capital
an! the restoration of its territory TO
I Christian Spain We're accomplished by
| Ferdinand ,hc Catholic ana his pious
wife. Queen isabella. Their marriage
I had brought about the permanent union
! of CASTLE ana Leon and Aragon. Ono
in heart ana purpose. state policy and
/ religion rendered further continuance
/ Of Mussulrnan rule intolerable in the
I peninsula. But they did not themselves
take the aggressive. With mad rash
LESS the sovereign OF Granada. About
I Hasson, began the war. a revolution
IN the palace caused his deposition. In
April, 1871, Ferdinand and Isabella
pitched their camp OF Santa Fc before
the doomed city. on January ., 1492.
the cross was planted on q tower of the
! Alnamhra and the domination OF the
Moors was at an end. The defeat of
Ciuadalcte was avenged.
Before the surrender generous terms
had been confirmed with the conquer
cd now called Morisccs. but the solemn
oaths OF ratification were soon disre-
garGud. Tho victims had no redress.
Philip II. resolved to accomplish their
iorcible conversion to Christianity ana
TO blot out every distinctive custom OF
their nationality Outwardly they con-
formed to his orders. though 40 far az
possible secretly observing all their an
Gent rites. Even this did not satisfy
their intolerant masters. In 1909 Philip
III. ordered every Morlsco to quit the
kingdom This command was enforced
with merciless severity. Probably
| million human beings, most of them
pcaccable and Industrious. were driven
| into n cruel exile. <SNhatcvcr calami-
| ties their remote ancestors had brought
upon the peninsula, to their descend
ants could be imputed no crime except
their birth.
Ut Is common to exalt the excellence
of Moorish government and to enlarge
upon the treasures of art which tie.
had accumulated and or science and
literature which they developed. Nor
did the Spaniard6 in those harsh centu-
rcs always show themselves as supe-
rior in cultivation and refinement Ne
vertheless few warlike expeditions
have been more Injurious to the pro-
gress of the world than that which
Tarik led from Africa to Europe 1,1Ss
years ago.