[713-722 A.D.]
Ten years after the conquest, a map of the province was presented to the caliph—the seas, the rivers, and the harbours, the inhabitants and cities, the climate, the soil, and the mineral productions of the earth. In the space of two centuries the gifts of nature were improved by the agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of an industrious people; and the effects of their diligence have been magnified by the idleness of their fancy. The first of the Omayyads who reigned in Spain solicited the support of the Christians; and, in his edict of peace and protection, he contents himself with a modest imposition of ten thousand ounces of gold, ten thousand pounds of silver, ten thousand horses, as many mules, one thousand cuirasses, with an equal number of helmets and lances. The most powerful of his successors derived from the same kingdom the annual tribute of twelve millions and forty-five thousand dinars or pieces of gold, about six millions of sterling money; a sum which, in the tenth century, most probably surpassed the united revenues of the Christian monarchs. His royal seat of Cordova contained six hundred mosques, nine hundred baths, and two hundred thousand houses; he gave laws to eighty cities of the first, to three hundred of the second and third order: and the fertile banks of the Guadalquivir were adorned with twelve thousand villages and hamlets. The Arabs might exaggerate the truth, but they created and they describe the most prosperous era of the riches, the cultivation, and the populousness of Spain.c
Musa did not reach Syria until the close of the year 714. Walid Abul-Abbas was on the bed of death; and Suleiman, the brother and heir of the caliph, wrote to the emir, commanding him not to approach the expiring sovereign, but to delay his entrance into Damascus until the opening of a new reign. Suleiman doubtless wished that the pomp of the spectacle should grace his own accession, and that the treasures now brought should not run the risk of dispersion by his brother. But Musa imprudently disregarded the command; perhaps he dreaded the fate which would await him for his delay should Walid recover; and he proceeded to the palace. That prince, however, in a few days bade adieu to empire and to life, and Musa remained exposed to the vengeance of Suleiman. He was cast into prison; was beaten with rods, while made to stand a whole day before the gate of the palace; and lastly was fined in so heavy a sum, that, unless his wealth were exhaustless, he must have been impoverished.
While Musa was thus deservedly punished for his rapacity and injustice, his son Abdul-Aziz was actively employed in finishing the subjugation of the peninsula. But one step, which he doubtless expected would strengthen his influence with both Arabs and natives, was the occasion of his downfall. Smitten with the charms of Egilona, the widow of Roderic, he made her first his concubine, next his wife; and it is probable that through the counsels of that ambitious and unprincipled woman, he aimed at an independent sovereignty. Besides, Suleiman might well apprehend the open rebellion of the son, on learning the story of the father’s harsh fate. To prevent the consequences which he dreaded might arise from the indignation of this powerful family, he despatched secret orders for the deposition and death of the three brothers. And Abdul-Aziz, while assisting at morning prayers in the mosque of Seville, fell beneath the poniards of the assassins. After this bloody execution, so characteristic of Mussulman government, Habib ben Obaid departed with the head of the emir to the court of Damascus. It was shown to Musa by the caliph, who at the same time asked him with a bitter smile, if he recognised it. The old man, who recognised it too well, turned away his shuddering looks, and fearlessly exclaimed, “Cursed be he who has destroyed a better man than himself!” He then left the palace and betook himself to the deserts of Arabia, where the grief of having thus lost his children soon brought him broken-hearted to the grave.
Severe as were the afflictions of Musa, and execrable as was the manner in which those afflictions were brought upon him, it is impossible to feel much pity for his fate. Of envy, rapacity, and injustice, he has been proved abundantly guilty; and though little is said of his cruelty by Arabic writers who lived long after his time, it is no less indisputable from the testimony of contemporary Christian historians. The horrors which he perpetrated in his career of conquest, or rather of extermination, have been compared to those of Troy and of Jerusalem, and to the worst atrocities of the persecuting heathen emperors. There may be exaggeration in the declamatory statements of those historians, but the very exaggeration must be admitted to prove the melancholy fact. The execution of Abdul-Aziz produced a great consternation in the minds of the natives.
The Arab sheikhs assembled to invest one of their body with the high dignity. The virtues and wisdom of Ayub ben Habib, the nephew of Musa, commanded their unanimous suffrages. But Omar II, the successor of Suleiman, disdaining to recognise a governor not appointed by the sovereign authority of the caliph, deposed Ayub and nominated Al-Haur ben Abd ar-Rahman to the viceregal dignity. Not even the rich booty which he collected during an irruption into Gothic Gaul, could, it is said, satisfy his rapacity; and he extorted heavy sums from the people. But what added most to the discontent of the Arabs was the defeat of his general Al-Kama, who had ventured to penetrate into the mountain fastnesses of the Asturias, to crush the infant power of Pelayo. [See the later volume on Spain.]
Yazid, the successor of Omar, replaced Al-Haur by As-Sama ben Malik [or Assan], 721 A.D. At the head of a considerable force, he passed the Pyrenees, took Carcassonne, reduced Narbonne, and laid siege to Toulouse, which made a noble resistance until Eudes, duke of Aquitaine, hastened to its relief. A bloody battle was fought under the walls of that city, fatal to the hopes of the Moslems. Their emir, their sheikhs, and many thousands of their number, were left on the field; perhaps few would have escaped, but for the courageous address of Abd ar-Rahman, the lieutenant of the deceased chief, who rallied the remains of the troops, and safely effected a retreat to Narbonne.
The grateful remnant immediately invested Abd ar-Rahman ben Abdallah with the government of Spain; and the election was confirmed by the emir of Africa. But Ambasa succeeded, by criminal intrigues, in procuring the deposition of this favourite chief and his own nomination. Carcassonne and Nîmes vainly attempted to resist him. In the midst of his success, however, death surprised him; and, at his own request, Odsra ben Abdallah was permitted to succeed him, but was speedily replaced by Yahya ben Salma. So loud, however, were the complaints that the African emir was obliged to depose him, and to nominate in his room Othman ben Abi Neza, better known to the readers both of history and romance as Manuza. But in a very few months this emir was replaced by another; and the latter was as summarily removed to make way for the Syrian Al-Haitam ben Obaid. At the end of two months, Abd ar-Rahman, the predecessor of Ambasa, was again invested with the viceregal dignity—an appointment which gave the highest satisfaction to the country.
THE INVASION OF FRANCE
[722-732 A.D.]
This celebrated emir commenced his second administration by distributing justice so impartially, that the professors of neither faith could find reason to complain. But these cares could not long divert him from the great design he had formed—that of invading the whole of Gaul. Though the Arabic historians conceal the extent of the preparations, for the natural purpose of palliating the disgrace of failure, there can be no doubt that those preparations were on an immense scale; that the true believers flocked to the white standard[39] from the farthest parts of the caliph’s dominions; and that the whole Mohammedan world contemplated the expedition with intense anxiety.