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The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the
Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
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Title: History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)

Author: S. P. Scott

Release date: March 20, 2024 [eBook #73214]

Language: English

Original publication: Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1904

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF

THE MOORISH EMPIRE IN EUROPE, VOL. 2 (OF 3) ***
 HISTORY
OF THE

Moorish Empire
IN EUROPE

BY

S. P. SCOTT
AUTHOR OF “THROUGH SPAIN”

Corduba famosa locuples de nomine dicta,

Inclyta deliciis, rebus quoque splendida cunctis
Hroswitha, Passio S. Pelagii

IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. II.

PHILADELPHIA & LONDON

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
1904
Copyright, 1904 By J. B. Lippincott Company
Published March, 1904

Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A.

 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.

CHAPTER XV
THE MOSLEM DOMINATION IN SICILY
PAGE
Classic Souvenirs of Sicily—Its Great Natural Advantages—It becomes
the Stronghold of the Papacy—Invasion of the Arabs—They besiege
Syracuse—Strength of that City—Failure of the Enterprise—Capture of
Palermo—Rapid Progress of the Moslems—Condition of Italy—Arab
Alliance with Naples—Messina taken—Betrayal of Castrogiovanni—
Rout of the Greeks near Syracuse—Feuds of the Conquerors—Their
Successes in Italy—Second Siege of Syracuse—The City is stormed
and destroyed by Ibn-Mohammed—Peril of Rome—Appearance of the
Normans in the South of Europe—They invade Sicily—Siege of
Palermo—Subjection of the Island—Influence of the Moslems over their
Conquerors—General Condition of Sicily—Its Civilization—Palermo and
its Environs—Science, Art, and Literature—The Great Work of Edrisi—
Arab Occupation of Sardinia, Crete, Corsica, and Malta 1

CHAPTER XVI
THE PRINCIPALITIES OF MOORISH SPAIN
Immobility of the African Race—Its Hostility to Civilization—Its Pernicious
Influence on the Politics of the Western Khalifate—Character of
Suleyman—Invasion of Ali—He ascends the Throne—His Tyranny—He
is assassinated—Abd-al-Rahman IV. succeeds Him—Yahya—Abd-al-
Rahman V.—Mohammed—Hischem III.—Organization of the Council of
State—Ibn-Djahwar, the Minister—His Talents and Power—Abul-Kasim-
Mohammed, Kadi of Seville—Berber Conspiracy—The Impostor Khalaf
is raised to the Throne as Hischem II.—Almeria—The Vizier Ibn-Abbas
—Influence of the Jews at Granada—The Rabbi Samuel— Rivalry of
Granada and Almeria—Abu-al-Fotuh—Motadhid ascends the Throne of
Seville—His Cruel and Dissolute Character—His Collection of Skulls—
Badis, King of Granada—Increasing Power of Castile—Valencia and
Malaga—Atrocities of the Christians at Barbastro 77

CHAPTER XVII
 WARS WITH THE CHRISTIANS; THE ALMORAVIDES
Dissensions in Castile—Alfonso the Guest of the Emir of Toledo—
Civilization of that Moorish Capital—Motamid, Prince of Seville—His
Prodigality—Valencia and Murcia become subject to Mamun—Motamid
takes Cordova—Military Genius of Alfonso VI.—The Famous Game of
Chess—Siege of Toledo—Capitulation of that City—Depredations of
Bands of Outlaws—Danger and Distress of the Moslems—Rise of the
Almoravides—Their Fanaticism and Prowess—They conquer Northern
Africa—The Spanish Emirs appeal to Yusuf—He crosses the Strait—
Rout of the Christians at Zallaca—Second Expedition of Yusuf—His
Popularity—He claims the Sovereignty of the Peninsula—The Cid: His
Character and His Exploits—He serves the Emir of Saragossa—He
obtains Control of Valencia—Revolt and Siege of that City—Cruelties of
the Cid—Death of Yusuf—Greatness of the Almoravide Empire—
Accession of Ali—Demoralization of the Conquerors 159

CHAPTER XVIII
THE EMPIRE OF THE ALMOHADES
Rise of Abu-Abdallah, the Mahdi—His Character and Talents—He rebels
against Ali—His Eventful Career—Abd-al-Mumen succeeds Him—
Decline of the Almoravide Power in Spain—Raid of Alfonso of Aragon—
Rout of Fraga—Death of Alfonso—Indecisive Character of the
Campaigns in the War of the Reconquest—Progress of Abd-al-Mumen
in Africa—Victories of the Almohades—Natural Hostility of Moor and
Berber—Anarchy in the Peninsula—It is invaded by the Africans—
Establishment of the Almohade Empire in Andalusia—Almeria taken by
the Christians—Its Recapture by the Berbers—Death of Abd-al-Mumen
—His Genius and Greatness—Accession of Yusuf—His Public Works—
He organizes a Great Expedition—He dies and is succeeded by Yakub
—The Holy War proclaimed—Battle of Alarcos—Effects of African
Supremacy—Death of Yakub—The Giralda—Mohammed—He attempts
the Subjugation of the Christians—Despair of the Latter—Battle of Las
Navas de Tolosa—Utter Rout of the Almohade Army 247

CHAPTER XIX
THE PROGRESS OF THE CHRISTIAN ARMS
General Disorder in the Peninsula—Aggressive Policy of the Christians— 334
Capture of Ubeda—Al-Mamun—Rise of Mohammed-Ibn-Hud—Merida
taken by the King of Leon—Prosperity of Barcelona—Jaime I. of
Aragon—Siege of Majorca—Terrible Sack of that City—Extinction of the
Almohades—Siege and Capture of Cordova by Ferdinand—Valencia
surrenders to the King of Aragon—Character of the Struggle between
 Christian and Moslem—Xativa—Its Prosperity—Murcia becomes the
Property of Castile—Xativa acquired by Aragon—Death and Character
of Jaime—Rise of the Kingdom of Granada—Its Wealth and Literary
Culture—Ferdinand captures Jaen—Mohammed-Ibn-Ahmar, King of
Granada, renders Homage to Ferdinand—Seville invested by the
Castilians—Great Strength of that City—Its Obstinate Defence—It is
reduced by Famine—Character of Ferdinand the Saint

CHAPTER XX
PROSECUTION OF THE RECONQUEST
Condition of Moorish Spain after the Death of Ferdinand III.—Invasion of
Ibn-Yusuf—Vast Wealth and Power of the Spanish Clergy—Public
Disorder—Energy of Mohammed I.—His Achievements—Mohammed
II.—Peace with Castile—Character of Alfonso X.—Siege of Tarifa—
Mohammed III.—Al-Nazer—Ismail—Baza taken—Mohammed IV.—The
Empire of Fez—Defeat of the Africans in the Plain of Pagana—Yusuf—
Rout of the Salado—Alfonso XI. captures Algeziras—Splendid Public
Works of the Kings of Granada—Mohammed V.—Ismail II.—Abu-Said
—He repairs to the Court of Pedro el Cruel, and is murdered—Yusuf II.
—Mohammed VI.—Yusuf III.—Mohammed VII.—Mohammed VIII.—Ibn-
Ismail—Gibraltar taken by the Castilians—Character of Muley Hassan
—Critical Condition of the Spanish Arabs—Impending Destruction of
the Kingdom of Granada 418

CHAPTER XXI
THE LAST WAR WITH GRANADA
Description of Granada—Its Wealth, Prosperity, and Civilization—Its Cities
—Beauty and Splendor of the Capital—The Alhambra—Condition and
Power of the Spanish Monarchy—Character of Ferdinand—Character
of Isabella—Muley Hassan and His Family—Storming of Zahara—
Alhama surprised by the Christians—Siege of that City and Repulse of
the Moors—Sedition at Granada—Ferdinand routed at Loja—Foray of
Muley Hassan—Expedition to the Ajarquia—Defeat and Massacre of
the Castilians—Boabdil attacks Lucena and is captured—Destructive
Foray of the Christians—Boabdil is released and returns to Granada—
Renewal of Factional Hostility in the Moorish Capital—Moslem and
Christian Predatory Inroads—Siege and Capture of Ronda—Embassy
from Fez—Al-Zagal becomes King—Defeat of the Court of Cabra at
Moclin—Division of the Kingdom of Granada—Its Disastrous Effects 510

CHAPTER XXII
 TERMINATION OF THE RECONQUEST
Summary of the Causes of the Decay of the Moslem Empire—Loja taken
by Storm—Progress of the Feud between Al-Zagal and Boabdil—The
Christians assist the Latter—Anarchy in Granada—Siege of Velez—
Ineffectual Attempt of Al-Zagal to relieve it—Surrender of the City—
Situation of Malaga—Its Delightful Surroundings—Its Vast Commercial
and Manufacturing Interests—It is invested by Ferdinand—Desperate
Resistance of the Garrison—Its Sufferings—Capitulation of the City—
Enslavement of the Population—Duplicity of the Spanish Sovereigns—
War with Al-Zagal—Siege of Baza—Discontent of the Christian Soldiery
—Energy and Firmness of the Queen—Embassy from the Sultan—
Baza surrenders—Al-Zagal relinquishes His Crown—War with Boabdil
—The Last Campaign—Blockade of Granada—Distress of Its
Inhabitants—Submission of the Capital—Fate of Boabdil—Isabella the
Inspiring Genius of the Conquest 595
HISTORY OF THE MOORISH EMPIRE IN EUROPE
 CHAPTER XV
THE MOSLEM DOMINATION IN SICILY

827–1072

Classic Souvenirs of Sicily—Its Great Natural Advantages—It

becomes the Stronghold of the Papacy—Invasion of the Arabs—
They besiege Syracuse—Strength of that City—Failure of the
Enterprise—Capture of Palermo—Rapid Progress of the
Moslems—Condition of Italy—Arab Alliance with Naples—
Messina taken—Betrayal of Castrogiovanni—Rout of the Greeks
near Syracuse—Feuds of the Conquerors—Their Successes in
Italy—Second Siege of Syracuse—The City is stormed and
destroyed by Ibn-Mohammed—Peril of Rome—Appearance of
the Normans in the South of Europe—They invade Sicily—Siege
of Palermo—Subjection of the Island—Influence of the Moslems
over their Conquerors—General Condition of Sicily—Its
Civilization—Palermo and its Environs—Science, Art, and
Literature—The Great Work of Edrisi—Arab Occupation of
Sardinia, Crete, Corsica, and Malta.
The island of Sicily, by reason of its geographical position, its
extraordinary fertility, and its commercial advantages, was one of the
most renowned and coveted domains of the ancient world. Its
situation, near the centre of the Mediterranean, afforded rare
facilities for participation in the trade and enjoyment of the culture of
those polished nations whose shores were washed by that famous
sea. Its soil yielded, with insignificant labor, the choicest products of
both the temperate and the torrid zones. Its coast was provided with
numerous and commodious harbors. That of Messina permitted
vessels of the heaviest tonnage to discharge their cargoes in
security at her quays. Those of Syracuse and Palermo were double,
for the use of men-of-war and merchantmen, as were the port of
Tyre and the Kothon of Carthage. The Phœnicians, at a period far
anterior to any mentioned in history, had established and maintained
important trading stations at points subsequently marked by the
erection of vast and flourishing cities. Doric and Ionic colonists, in
their turn, carried thither the elegant luxury and fastidious tastes
which distinguished the finished civilization of antiquity. This
mysterious island, where were manifested some of the most
appalling and inexplicable phenomena of nature, was the home of
frightful monsters, the scene of dire enchantments, the inspiration of
Homeric fable and mythological legend. Here was the haunt of the
dreaded Cyclops. A short distance from its shores were practised the
infernal arts of the beauteous but vindictive Circe. Here passed the
Argonauts on their triumphant return from Colchis. To the Greek
succeeded the Carthaginian, who might assert, with no little show of
justice, a claim to the inheritance of his Phœnician ancestors. Next
came the mighty and resistless supremacy of Rome. Sicily was one
of the first, as it was among the richest, of the provinces early
acquired by her arms. It long shared with Egypt the honorable
distinction of being one of the granaries of Italy. The great resources
of the island in the days of the Republic are indicated by the value of
the spoils appropriated by the avarice of a rapacious governor. The
corrupt accumulations of Verres, during the course of his magistracy,
amounted to forty million sesterces. Besides the money of which he
plundered the unfortunate dependents of the Republic are
enumerated statues, paintings, bronzes, utensils sacred to the
service of the gods, the ornaments of the altars, the costly offerings
with which the affectionate gratitude of the pious and the opulent had
enriched her magnificent temples. In intellectual advancement Sicily
kept well abreast of her enlightened neighbors. The choicest works
of the Attic and of the Roman muse were read with delight by the
polished society of her cities. The masterpieces of Aristophanes and
Terence were enacted with applause in her spacious theatres,
resplendent with many colored marbles and decorations of beaten
gold. The intimate social and commercial relations maintained with
the cities of Magna Græcia aided, in no inconsiderable degree, the
development of Sicilian civilization. The citizens of Messina and
Palermo could perhaps claim a common origin with the refined
inhabitants of Crotona and Tarentum.
Thus had Sicily, by her amalgamation of widely different races and
through her political affiliations, inherited all the noblest traditions of
antiquity, all the maxims of Oriental philosophy, of Grecian culture, of
Phœnician enterprise, and of Roman power. With her history are
associated the names of Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, of Pyrrhus and
Marcellus, of Dionysius and Archimedes. But long before the period
of Byzantine degeneracy so fatal to the Empire, her prosperity had
greatly declined. Even in the time of the Cæsars the evils of a venal
and rapacious administration had been felt in the imposition of
onerous taxes, and the consequent and inevitable decay of
agriculture. Insurrections were common, and characterized by all the
atrocities of anarchy. The harvests were wantonly destroyed. The
villas of the Roman nobles, whose extensive domains embraced the
larger portion of the arable land, were given to the flames. Bands of
robbers roamed at will through the deserted settlements. The cities
were not infrequently stormed and plundered. The tillage of the soil
was no longer safe or profitable. Extensive tracts of territory, whose
extraordinary and varied productiveness had formerly astonished the
stranger, were abandoned to pasturage, an unfailing sign of national
decadence. The care of the flocks was committed to slaves, whose
savage aspect and brutal habits proclaimed their barbarian lineage.
Clothed in skins and armed with rude weapons, they were a menace
alike to the industrious citizen and the belated wayfarer. No wages or
sustenance was bestowed upon these outlaws, who were expected
and encouraged to supply by acts of violence the necessaries
denied by the neglect and parsimony of their masters. Others, whose
ferocious temper and habitual insubordination demanded restraint,
labored from early dawn in fetters, and were confined in filthy
dungeons during the night. The most shocking crimes were
perpetrated with impunity. The spoils which had escaped the robber
could not be rescued from the vigilant perquisitions of the farmer of
the revenue. The tax upon grain amounted to twenty-five per cent.,
and the impositions upon articles of commerce and the scanty
manufactures which had survived the general destruction of trade
and the mechanical arts were apportioned in a corresponding ratio,
and were collected with uncompromising severity. With the prevalent
insecurity of person and property, maritime enterprise was checked,
and the fleets of foreign merchantmen which had once crowded the
seaports of the island disappeared. The weak and corrupt
government of Constantinople, dominated by eunuchs and disgraced
by the political intrigues of ecclesiastics and women, was powerless
to correct the disorders of a distant and almost unknown province.
Theological disputes and the pleasures of the circus engrossed the
attention of the successors of the martial Constantine, whose
authority, disputed at home, was often scarcely acknowledged in
their insular possessions. The exaggerated perils of the strait, aided
perhaps by a knowledge of the impoverished condition of the
country, may have deterred the victorious barbarians from any
prolonged occupation of Sicily. While they overran the country at
different times, they left no traces of their sojourn,—neither colonies,
institutions, racial impressions, nor physical peculiarities. But this
comparative exemption from the common ruin seems to have been
productive of no substantial benefit. The spirit of the people was not
adapted either to the requirements of self-government or to the
imperious demands of vassalage. They were at once turbulent,
rebellious, servile. In the character of the Sicilian of the ninth century,
as in that of the Calabrian of modern times, every evil instinct was
predominant. The seditious spirit of the peasantry, aided by their
proverbial inconstancy, was one of the principal causes which
prevented the consolidation of the Mohammedan power.
From being the seat of Grecian civilization, the granary of Rome,
the theatre of barbarian license, Sicily had become the nursery of the
Papacy. It furnished bold and zealous defenders of the chair of St.
Peter. Its opportune contributions replenished the exhausted
treasury of the Vatican. There the genius of St. Gregory first laid the
foundations of the temporal power of the Holy See. There was
situated the richest portion of the possessions of the Roman
hierarchy. There were matured political measures which were
destined to exercise for generations the talents of the ablest
statesmen of Europe. At an early period the popes acquired an
important following among the peasantry of the island. The
ignorance of the populace, and the eagerness with which it received
impressions of the supernatural; the associations derived from the
legends of antiquity, many of which, with political foresight, had been
bodily appropriated by the Fathers of the Church; the absolution
promised, without reserve, for the most heinous offences, had
allured thousands upon thousands of proselytes to the gorgeous
altars of Rome. The institution of the monastic orders and the vast
number of idlers increased tenfold the burdens of an oppressed and
impoverished country. It was said that the Benedictines alone
possessed nearly half of the island. Convents surrounded with
beautiful gardens and supplied with all the requirements of luxury
arose on every side. The mountain-caves swarmed with hermits.
The miracles performed by holy men and women surpassed in
wonder and mystery the achievements of mythological heroes,—the
conquerors of Cyclops, the captors of dragons. Martyrs underwent
the most exquisite tortures with unshaken constancy. In no other
province which recognized the predominance of the Papacy was
there greater reverence for ecclesiastical tradition; and, as a
legitimate consequence, in no other was prevalent a more marked
degree of ignorance in the masses, or a more habitual defiance of
the laws of morality and justice by those indebted for their superiority
to the influence of the Church. The number of slaves owned by the
Holy See and employed upon its estates was enormous. The greater
part of its wealth was computed to be derived from their labor and
from the traffic in their children. The arts of the confessor secured
from the wealthy penitent immense estates and valuable legacies,
the reluctant tribute of terror and remorse. These possessions, once
in the iron grasp of the sacerdotal order, a master endowed with
legal immortality, were never relinquished. The oblations of grateful
convalescents enriched the treasuries of chapel and cathedral.
Pilgrims flocked in great numbers to those shrines which enjoyed an
extensive reputation for sanctity, and whose relics were believed to
possess unfailing virtues for the cure of the sick and the relief of the
afflicted. A profitable trade was supported at the expense of the
superstitious credulity of these devout strangers. Well aware of its
importance as an adjunct to their temporal power, and taking
advantage of the relations of its parishioners with the Byzantine
court, the early bishops of Rome extended every aid to the Sicilian
branch of the Catholic hierarchy. It enjoyed peculiar privileges. It was
exempted from vexatious impositions. Its legates were received with
distinguished courtesy by the papal court. Gregory founded from his
private purse seven monasteries in the island. Adrian frequently
referred to it as the citadel of the Italian clergy. No portion of the
patrimony of St. Peter could boast a priesthood more opulent, more
arrogant, more powerful, more corrupt.
At the time of the Moorish invasion Sicily had become thoroughly
Byzantine. The glorious traditions of the Greek occupation were
forgotten. In Messina alone the style of architecture, the physical
characteristics of the people, the comparative purity of language,
revealed significant traces of the influence of the most polished
nation of antiquity. In no other province subject to Rome had the
brutal doctrine of force, the basis of both republican and imperial
power, been so sedulously inculcated and applied. The harvests of
Sicily aided largely to sustain the idle population of the metropolis of
the world. Its commerce and its revenues furnished inexhaustible
resources to the venality and peculations of the proconsul. The
Roman aristocracy had there its most sumptuous villas, its largest
and most productive estates, its most numerous bodies of retainers.
It was not unusual for a patrician in the days of the Empire to own
twenty thousand slaves.
Byzantine degeneracy had not failed to cast its blight over this,
one of the fairest possessions of the emperors of the East. After the
reign of Justinian, no attempt was made by the exhausted state,
scarcely able to defend its capital, to send colonists to the island.
The debased populace, the refuse of a score of nations, ignorant of
the very name of patriotism, destitute of every principle of honor or
virtue, sank each day still lower in the scale of humanity.
The condition of Italy was even worse. The Lombards had
conquered all of that peninsula except the Exarchate of Ravenna. To
their dominion had succeeded the contentions of a multitude of
insignificant principalities, inflamed with mutual and irreconcilable
hostility, united in nothing except jealousy of the papal power. The
incredible perfidy and fraud which afterwards became the peculiar
attributes of the Italian political system—whose maxims, elaborated
by Machiavelli, have excited the wonder and contempt of succeeding
ages—had then their origin. The entire country was the scene of
perpetual discord, treachery, and intrigue. In the latter the Pope,
urged by necessity and inclination alike, bore no insignificant share.
The prevalence of such conditions came within a hair’s-breadth of
changing, perhaps forever, the political complexion of Europe and
the sphere of Christian influence. The feuds of petty rulers were
aggravated rather than reconciled in the presence of the common
danger. The general anarchy was eminently favorable to foreign
conquest. The Lombard princes solicited the aid of the Saracens.
The latter profited by every occasion of dissension and enmity. They
enlisted with equal facility and disloyalty under the banners of every
faction. Twice they ravaged the environs of Rome. At different times
they were in the pay of the Holy See. A series of fortunate accidents
alone prevented the enthronement of an Arab emir in the Vatican
and the transformation of St. Peter’s into a Mohammedan mosque.
The vicinity of Sicily to the main-land of Africa had early
suggested to the Saracens the conquest of that island. In the
seventh century it had been visited by marauding expeditions from
Egypt. Syracuse was stormed in 669, and the treasures of the
Roman churches, placed there for security from barbarian attack,
were borne away to Alexandria. Before crossing the Strait of
Gibraltar, and even while the Berber tribes still threatened the
security of his outposts, the enterprising Musa—as has already been
recounted in these pages—had despatched his son Abdallah upon a
predatory expedition among the islands of the Mediterranean. In
Majorca, Minorca, Sardinia, and Sicily a large quantity of plunder
was obtained and carried off by these adventurous freebooters.
Other expeditions from time to time, and with varying success for the
space of more than a century, followed the example of that
organized by Musa. Despite these inroads, amicable relations
subsisted, for the most part, between the Byzantine governors of
Sicily and the Aghlabite princes of Africa. They despatched
embassies, made protestations of mutual attachment, negotiated
treaties, exchanged presents. But under all these plausible
appearances of peace and friendship there lurked, on the one side,
the deadly hatred and ambitious hopes of the fanatic whose creed
was sustained by arms, and, on the other, an indefinable dread of
inevitable calamity which could not long be averted.
 A strong resemblance exists between the historical legends from
which are derived our information concerning the Saracen
occupations of Spain and Sicily. In both cases a real or pretended
injury to female innocence is said to have been the indirect cause of
the invasion of the Moslems. In the army of the Byzantine emperor
stationed in Sicily was one Euphemius, an officer of high rank,
eminent talents, and unquestioned courage, who, having become
enamored of a nun, invaded the sanctity of the cloister, carried off
the recluse, and, despite her remonstrances, made her his wife. This
act of sacrilege, while far from being without precedent in the lawless
condition of society under the lax and cruel administration of the
Greek emperors, was not in this instance committed by a personage
of sufficient authority to enable him to escape the consequences of
his rashness. The relatives of the damsel appealed for redress to the
Byzantine court, the demand was heeded, and a mandate was
despatched by the Emperor to the governor of Sicily to deprive the
daring ravisher of his nose, the penalty prescribed by the sanguinary
code of Greek jurisprudence for the offence. Euphemius, having
learned of the punishment with which he was threatened and relying
on his popularity, endeavored to frustrate the execution of the
sentence by exciting an insurrection. The enterprise failed through
the cowardice and treachery of some of the leading conspirators,
and the baffled rebel was compelled to seek refuge among the
Saracens of Africa. The reigning sovereign of the Aghlabite dynasty,
whose seat of government was at Kairoan, was Ziadet-Allah, a
prince of warlike tastes, implacable ferocity, and licentious manners.
No sooner had he landed than Euphemius sent messages to the
African Sultan, imploring his assistance, and promising that in case it
was afforded Sicily should be erected into an Aghlabite principality,
evidenced by the payment of tribute and the acknowledgment of
supremacy. The offer was tempting to the cupidity and ambition of
the Moslem ruler, and the powerful following of the fugitive made its
accomplishment apparently a matter of little difficulty. In the mean
time, however, envoys had arrived from the Sicilian government
charged to remonstrate, in the name of the Emperor, against this
encouragement of rebellion and violation of neutrality by a friendly
power. Thus harassed by the arguments of the rival emissaries, and
weighing the political advantages which might result from the
observation of the faith of treaties on the one hand, and from the
acquisition of valuable territory and the extension of the spiritual
domain of Islam on the other, Ziadet-Allah remained for a long time
undecided. In the time of the early khalifs the material benefits
accruing from warfare with the infidel—a duty enjoined upon every
Moslem—would hardly have been subordinated to a mere question
of casuistry. But the condition of the provinces subject to the
Aghlabite dynasty, whose throne had recently been shaken by a
religious revolution, rendered the cordial acquiescence and co-
operation of the discordant elements of African society indispensably
requisite in a measure of national moment. The chieftains and
nobles were convoked in solemn assembly. The avarice of the
soldier, the fanaticism of the dervish, the aspirations of the
commander were stimulated by every device of intrigue and by every
resource of oratory. The scruples of the conscientious were
overcome by quotations from the Koran inculcating the obligation of
unremitting hostility to the infidel. A plausible pretext for breaking the
treaty was found in the fact that one of its main provisions had
already been evaded by the Greeks themselves, who had neglected
to liberate certain Moslems who had fallen into their hands. The
arguments of those who favored hostilities finally prevailed. The
opposition—which had been organized from purely interested
motives—disappeared; the assembly, controlled by the skilful arts of
the representatives of the government animated by enthusiastic zeal
for conquest, declared for immediate action, and the sounds of
preparation were soon heard in the city of Susa, whose harbor had
been made the rendezvous of the expedition. The supreme
command was intrusted to Asad-Ibn-Forat, Kadi of Tunis, a
personage more renowned as a jurist and a theologian than as a
master of the art of war, and who, like Musa, had already passed the
ordinary limit of manly vigor and military ambition. A great force was
mustered for the enterprise from every part of Northern Africa. The
wild Berbers, whose faith was weak and vacillating except when
revived by the prospect of booty, assembled in vast numbers. A fleet
of a hundred vessels, exclusive of the squadron of the rebels, was
equipped, and sailed from Susa on the thirteenth of June, 827. Three