330 THE GLORY OF CHRISTENDOM

THE NEMESIS OF POWER

331
During the long papal interregnum and the brief and unique pontificate of St. Peter Celestine V, Alfonso
P6rez de Guzman, called el bueno ("the Good"), had written a new chapter of imperishable glory in the
resplendent history of the Christian reconquest of Spain. The Moors of Morocco still held both shores of the
Straits of Gibraltar, based on the triple strongholds of the Rock itself, Algeciras across the bay from the Rock,
and Tarifa just west of the southernmost cape of Spain which marks the narrowest point of the Straits. The
kingdom of Granada to the northeast was still Muslim-ruled, but refused to accept Morocco as overlord; both
Castile and Morocco sought its alliance. In the spring of 1292 the tainted King Sancho the Fierce of Castile
and his devoted wife Maria de Molina planned a great campaign to reconquer Tarifa "to the service of God and
the honor of all Christendom." The Spanish crusading military orders of Santiago and Alcantara rallied their
men, and the Christian army set out late in June, with Queen Maria supporting it logistically from Sevilla just
as the great Queen Isabel was later to do during the final campaigns leading up to the conquest of Granada.
Much fighting followed, during which Sancho received some support from Granada, whose ruler Muhammad
II hoped to obtain Tarifa for himself. Tarifa surrendered in October. Sancho firmly refused to relinquish it to
anyone, and appointed Guzman to command its garrison."
Muhammad II of Granada now made alliance with Morocco in an attempt jointly to recover Tarifa from
Castile, weakened by a rebellion of Sancho's brother Juan against him. Defeated, Prince Juan joined the Moors
as his father Alfonso X had done during the crisis at the end of his reign. The united Moors besieged Tarifa.
But James II of Aragon kept faith with the ancient cause by sending 15 ships from his strong navy to aid his
Christian brethren of Castile. Learning of this and believing that they must consequently take Tarifa at once or
not at all, in August 1294 the besiegers adopted the vicious proposal of renegade Prince Juan that they demand
that Guzman surrender Tarifa as the price for the life of his son who was Prince Juan's prisoner. The demand
was made. Guzman's answer was to hurl a sword over the ramparts at the enemy. Tarifa held out, the relieving
fleet from Aragon arrived, and the besiegers withdrew, but not before they had killed Guzman's son, just as
they had
60. _

"Lomax, Reconquest of Spain, p. 165; O'Callaghan, Medieval Spain, p. 397; Gaibrois de Ballesteros, Sancho N,
11, 175, 177-184. Gaibrois de Ballesteros argues convincingly in a lengthy footnote (op. cit., II, 194-195) that
the expedition against Tarifa was a purely Castilian enterprise in no way dependent on Granadan aid. Lomax
and O'Callaghan accept Muhammad II's assertion that Sancho had promised him the city, and he may have
believed that such a promise was made; but as early as March 1292 Sancho had stated unequivocally in a
letter to the Bishop of Badajoz that he would never turn Tarifa over to the Moors (op. cit., II, 194), and it
seems most unlikely that in fact he would ever have done so.
threatened. After Sancho's death the next year led to near-chaos and collapse of authority in Castile,
Guzmfin refused an order from its Regent to surrender Tarifa to the Moors. He was loyal to the Reconquest
to the end, and Tarifa remained in Christian hands."
The total fidelity to duty of Alfonso Perez de Guzmfin the Good became a legend in Spain; and 642
years later his deed was re-enacted, in extraordinarily similar circumstances, by a man who must have heard
the tale of Guzmfin the
Good retold many a time. In the terrible summer of 1936, surrounded by an atheist army more alien than
even the Moors had been, Colonel Jose Moscard6, commander of the garrison of the Alcfizar (castle, or
citadel) of Toledo, was ordered by his assailants to surrender as the price of the life of his son Luis, whom
they held captive. They called Moscard6 on the telephone and put Luis on the line, who confirmed their
intention. "Then, my son," Moscard6 said, "commend your soul to God, cry `Long Live Spain!' and die like a
hero, for the Alcazar will never surrender!" And the Alcazar of Toledo held out, and Luis Moscard6 was
slain.l°°
So does the Christian past enlace the present-especially in Spain.

The first major task undertaken by Pope Boniface VIII was to attempt the resolution of the long-
standing Sicilian problem. His approach to it during the year 1295 shows the new pontiff at his best: an able
and ingenious negotiator
who always kept his primary goals in view. His primary goals were to end the conflict in Sicily and the
conflict between France and Aragon about Sicily, and to restore Papal authority there, which had
theoretically been re-established under Charles I of Naples (originally Prince Charles of Anjou in France)
when he overthrew Manfred, the illegitimate son of Frederick II-though in fact Charles had governed and
oppressed Sicily with little reference to the Pope. Boniface VIII's negotiations resulted in the Treaty of
Anagni in June 1295, which provided for Aragon to renounce its claim to Sicily and return it to the Pope, in
return for Sardinia and Corsica. James II of Aragon was to liberate the sons of Charles II of Naples whom he
held hostage and to marry Charles' daughter Blanche, while Frederick of Sicily was to marry Catherine of
Courtenay, heiress to the last Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Aragon was to abandon its claims on Sicily
and France its claims on Aragon. lol
As far as France and Aragon were concerned, the treaty was a success; but Catherine of Courtenay
rejected marriage to Frederick and he in turn refused to submit to the Pope, continued to war against Naples,
and had himself
Gaibrois de Ballesteros, Sancho IV, II, 205, 209, 258-259, 291, 305-306, 326-327, 335-338; Lomax, Reconquest
of Spain, p. 165; O'Callaghan, Medieval Spain, pp. 397, 401; Hillgarth, Spanish Kingdoms, I, 313.
looHugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War (New York, 1961), pp. 203-204.

lolMann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XIX, 68-73; Boase, Boniface VIII, pp. 70-72; Runciman, Sicilian Vespers, pp.
294-295.