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Management, 9e (Kinicki)
Chapter 6 Strategic Management: How Exceptional Managers Realize a Grand Design
1) Mel's Diner is a popular café that specializes in home-cooked meals, friendly service, and a
menu that contains vegan and vegetarian dishes (menu items that no other restaurant in the area
offers). Mel's Diner is engaging in strategic positioning by offering the unique menu items of
vegan and vegetarian dishes.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Strategic positioning attempts to achieve sustainable competitive advantage by
preserving what is distinctive about a company. Mel's Diner is meeting the broad needs of
relatively few customers (vegans and vegetarians).
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Strategic Positioning
Learning Objective: 06-01 Identify the three principles underlying strategic positioning.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Knowledge Application
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
2) Executive Office Supply, a small family-owned company, sells high-priced desks, some as
expensive as $10,000, to executives in its area. Very few companies have chosen to market this
product, and Executive Office Supply has enjoyed record profits over the last 25 years. As their
financial planner, you would advise Executive Office Supply to not utilize strategic planning.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Many small business owners do not engage in strategic planning. It is suspected that
the cause is a short-term rather than long-term focus. Strategic planning requires a long-term
orientation.
Topic: Strategic Planning
Bloom's: Understand
1
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written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
3) The first three steps in the strategic-management process are establishing the mission and the
values statement, assessing the current reality, and formulating the grand strategy.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: The first three steps in the strategic-management process are (1) establishing the
mission and the values statement, (2) assessing the current reality, and (3) formulating corporate,
business, and functional strategies. The next two steps are executing the strategy and maintaining
strategic control, along with a feedback loop (see Figure 6.2).
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Strategic Management
Learning Objective: 06-02 Outline the five steps in the strategic-management process.
Bloom's: Remember
4) Ray is interested in rewriting the vision statement for his antique shops, and he wants his
employees and his business to grow. Therefore, the vision for Ray's stores should be positive and
inspiring, and it should stretch the company and his employees to achieve objectives that they
believe are not possible.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: The vision statement states what the organization wants to become and where it
wants to go strategically.
Topic: Vision Statement
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
5) When Nordstrom's says, "Leave it better than we found it. We work hard to be a company that
our employees and our customers can be proud of. For us, that means doing our best to support the
many people and communities we serve. It also means respecting the environment by reducing our
impact and conserving resources where we can. We strive to make people feel good and show that
Nordstrom is a company that cares." They are sharing their mission.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The provided statement is a values statement. The values statement describes what
the organization stands for, its core priorities, the values its employees embody, and what its
products contribute to the world.
Topic: Values
Bloom's: Understand
2
6) The Internet has fueled rivalries among all kinds of companies.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: The Internet has intensified rivalries among all kinds of organizations.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Porter's Five Forces
Learning Objective: 06-05 Discuss Porter's five competitive forces and the four techniques for
formulating strategy.
Bloom's: Remember
7) Hanson Steel sees the new trade tariffs as an organizational threat.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Organizational threats are environmental factors that hinder an organization's
achieving a competitive advantage. The threat is the "T" in the SWOT analysis.
Topic: Organizational Threats
Learning Objective: 06-03 Explain how an organization assesses the competitive landscape.
Bloom's: Understand
8) Fascinating Fez, a 125-year-old hat and cap manufacturer, markets very high-quality stylish
headwear, many of which cost more than $1,000 each, to fashionistas globally, always maintaining
its reputation of superior value in its narrow market. Fascinating Fez is using a cost-focus strategy.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: Fascinating Fez is using a focused-differentiation strategy. The
focused-differentiation strategy is to offer products or services that are of unique and superior
value compared to those of competitors and to target a narrow market.
Topic: Focused Differentiation Strategy
Learning Objective: 06-05 Discuss Porter's five competitive forces and the four techniques for
formulating strategy.
Bloom's: Understand
3
9) Reflection is a key activity in developing your ability to think more strategically.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: There are four key activities for developing your ability to think more strategically:
understand the business, broaden your task and functional knowledge, set aside time to reflect, and
engage in lateral thinking.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 06-07 Describe how to enhance your strategic thinking.
Bloom's: Remember
10) Because all work ultimately entails some human interaction, effort, or involvement, Bossidy
and Charan believe that focusing on organization synergy is the most important process in strategy
execution.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: Because all work ultimately entails some human interaction, effort, or involvement,
Bossidy and Charan believe that the people process is the most important of the three core
processes (people, strategy, and operations).
Topic: Strategy
Learning Objective: 06-06 Describe the role of effective execution in strategic management.
Bloom's: Remember
11) ________ focus(es) on developing a comprehensive program for long-term success.

A) Strategic planning
B) Mission and vision statements
C) Organizational diversity
D) TQM
E) A synergy agenda
Answer: A
Explanation: Strategic planning is concerned with developing a comprehensive program for
long-term success.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
4
12) Four Seasons Lawn and Landscaping provides customers with quality and value, treats others
as they want to be treated, and practices open communications with all stakeholders. These are part
of their
A) values statement.
B) vision statement.
C) mission statement.
D) strategic formulation.
E) reality assessment.
Answer: A
Explanation: The values statement describes what the organization stands for, its core priorities,
the values its employees embody, and what its products contribute to the world.
Bloom's: Understand
13) Which managers would be at Level 2: Business-Level Strategy?

A) finance managers
B) human resource managers
C) retail unit managers
D) operations managers
E) marketing managers
Answer: C
Explanation: Business-level strategy focuses on individual business units or product/service
lines. Senior-level managers below the C-Suite typically are responsible for this level of strategy.
Issues under consideration flow from decisions made at the corporate level and involve
considerations such as how much to spend on marketing, new-product development, product
expansion or contraction, facilities expansion or reduction, equipment, pricing, and employee
development. (See Figure 6.1.)
Bloom's: Understand
5
14) The three key principles of ________ are the creation of a unique and valuable position,
trade-offs in competing, and creating a "fit" among activities.
A) company diversity
B) an increased MBO
C) a strong employee morale
D) an environment with few or no competitors
E) strategic positioning
Answer: E
Explanation: The three key principles of strategic positioning are (1) the creation of a unique and
valuable position, (2) trade-offs in competing, and (3) creating a "fit" among activities.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
15) According to Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, strategic positioning means
________ to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
A) aggressive growth
B) distinctive positioning
C) collaborative planning
D) strategic alliances
E) retrenchment
Answer: B
Explanation: According to Porter, strategic positioning attempts to achieve sustainable
competitive advantage by preserving what is distinctive about a company. "It means," he says,
"performing different activities from rivals, or performing similar activities in different ways."
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
6
16) What are the three sources of a unique and valuable strategic position?
A) few needs, many customers; broad needs, few customers; broad needs, many customers
B) low-cost products; huge market needs; unique products
C) many needs, few customers; little need, many customers; narrow needs, few customers
D) poor products available; few products available; no products available
E) bad economy; strong economy; stable economy
Answer: A
Explanation: A unique and valuable strategic position emerges from three possible sources: (1)
few needs, many customers; (2) broad needs, few customers; and (3) broad needs, many
customers.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
17) Cooper Technologies is a technology company that offers many IT services in Chicago. The
company's services and products include computer training, support, monitoring, repair, network
design, virus removal, and software upgrades. It even sells refurbished computers. The source of
Cooper Technologies' strategic position is
A) low-profit margin and many customers.
B) broad needs and few customers.
C) broad needs and many customers.
D) high-profit margin and many customers.
E) high-profit margin and few customers.
Answer: C
Explanation: Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position. Strategic position
emerges from three sources. One of the sources, like Cooper Technologies, is broad needs, many
customers. This strategy is oriented toward serving the broad needs of many customers.
Bloom's: Understand
7
18) With small businesses in very competitive industries, small differences in performance may
affect that company's survival. In this case, it is worth the effort for the company's managers to
implement
A) organizational diversity.
B) a synergy agenda.
C) MBO.
D) TQM.
E) strategic planning.
Answer: E
Explanation: Many small business owners do not engage in strategic planning. We suspect the
cause is a short-term rather than long-term focus. Strategic planning requires a long-term
orientation.
Bloom's: Understand
19) A local dance studio offers many services: tap and ballet lessons to young children (under age
10), additional jazz and hip hop lessons to preteens, competitive dance for teenagers, and ballroom
dance for adults. We can say that the studio has achieved ________ because the studio's activities
interact and reinforce one another.
A) an effective defensive strategy
B) a blue ocean strategy
C) diversification
D) contingency
E) fit
Answer: E
Explanation: "Fit" refers to the ways a company's activities interact and reinforce one another.
The dance studio has achieved good fit with its many related activities.
Bloom's: Understand
8
20) Spotlight Movies has conducted market research about to where to open their next theater.
They want to stay-focused on their mission to only open in markets with less than 200,000 people.
Their strategy is
A) few needs, many customers.
B) broad needs, few customers.
C) broad needs, many customers.
D) few needs, few customers.
E) broad needs, some trade-offs.
Answer: C
Explanation: A strategic position may be based on serving the broad needs of many customers.
Bloom's: Understand
21) ________ requires a manger to visit an earlier step in the strategic-management process in
order to revise actions if necessary.
A) The organizational mission
B) Strategy formulation
C) The current reality assessment
D) The feedback loop
E) The planning process
Answer: D
Explanation: The feedback loop, which provides an opportunity to monitor progress, revise
actions, and maintain strategic control, originates at the final step of the strategic-management
process (see Figure 6.2).
Topic: Strategic Control System
Bloom's: Understand
9
22) In order, the steps of the strategic-management process are
A) establish the mission and vision statements, assess the current reality, conduct a trend analysis,
and maintain the feedback loop.
B) establish the mission statement, maintain strategic control, formulate the grand strategy, and
implement the strategy.
C) establish the mission, vision, and values statements; assess the current reality; formulate the
grand strategy; implement the strategy; and maintain strategic control.
D) establish the vision and values statements, develop a mission statement, formulate the grand
strategy, implement the strategy, and maintain the feedback loop.
E) determine the strategy; carry out the strategic plans; and establish the mission, vision, and
values statements.
Answer: C
Explanation: The steps of the strategic-management process are (1) establishing the mission,
vision, and values statement; (2) assessing the current reality; (3) formulating the grand strategy;
(4) implementing the strategy; and (5) maintaining strategic control and the feedback loop (see
Figure 6.2).
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
23) The second step in the strategic-management process is a(n) ________, where managers look
at where the organization stands, and then determine what is working and what could be different
to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the organization's mission.
A) organizational vision statement
B) company synergy assessment
C) current reality assessment
D) ethical and diversity evaluation
E) grand strategy
Answer: C
Explanation: The second step in the strategic-management process is to do a current reality
assessment, or organizational assessment—to look at where the organization stands and see what
is working and what could be different to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the
organization's mission.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
10
24) An organization's vision statement needs to describe
A) the organization's purpose or reason for being.
B) what the company will market and its business plan.
C) the organization's purpose or reason for being and its strategic intent.
D) the organization's ethical and diversity standards.
E) what the company wants to become and where it wants to go strategically.
Answer: E
Explanation: The vision statement states what the organization wants to become and where it
wants to go strategically.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Vision Statement
Bloom's: Remember
25) "Who are our customers? What are our major products or services? In what geographic areas
do we compete?" A good ________ will answer these questions.
A) vision statement
B) code of ethics
C) mission statement
D) value pact
E) management belief statement
Answer: C
Explanation: The mission statement expresses the organization's purpose or reason for being.
Topic: Mission Statement
Bloom's: Understand
11
26) Carlos has written his mission, vision, and value statements. He has completed his
organizational assessment. What is his next step?
A) strategy implementation
B) conduct a feedback loop
C) maintain strategic control
D) formulate functional strategies
E) assess strategic thinking
Answer: D
Explanation: The third step is to translate the broad mission and vision statements into a
corporate strategy, which, after the assessment of the current reality, explains how the
organization's mission is to be accomplished.
Bloom's: Understand
27) Growth, stability, and defensive strategies are common

A) leadership strategies.
B) cost-leadership strategies.
C) types of differentiation plans.
D) stabilization strategies.
E) grand strategies.
Answer: E
Explanation: Three common grand strategies are growth, stability, and defensive strategies.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
12
28) PC's & More has shifted to sales and service of laptops and PCs, where it has the potential to
triple the number of its customers. The company is no longer offering repairs on older types of
office equipment because the demand for service on this equipment is low, and profits in that part
of the business have dropped significantly. PC's & More is implementing a ________ strategy.
A) growth
B) cutting-edge
C) stability
D) defensive
E) diverse
Answer: A
Explanation: A growth strategy is a grand strategy that involves expansion, as in expanding sales
revenues, market share, number of employees, or number of customers or (for nonprofits) clients
served. In a variation of this strategy, it can grow market share or profits by innovating
improvements in products of services (an innovation strategy).
Learning Objective: 06-04 Explain the three methods of corporate-level strategy.
Bloom's: Understand
29) Global Market has decided to increase its market share by hiring a marketing rep to visit
businesses in the area and invite their employees to shop at Global Market and attend monthly
health events that take place at Global Market stores. Each of the individual stores has hired two
new employees to handle the anticipated increase in customer traffic. Global Market is using a
________ strategy.
A) cutting-edge
B) stability
C) defensive
D) growth
E) diverse
Answer: D
Explanation: A growth strategy is a grand strategy that involves expansion, as in expanding sales
revenues, market share, number of employees, or number of customers or (for nonprofits) clients
served.
Bloom's: Understand
13
30) A+ Enterprises has a reputation of reliability and a winning customer service, qualities that
helped to build this highly respected name brand over the last 15 years. Speaking at a recent
business conference, Benjamin, the CEO of A+, told his audience, "We have built our reputation
by changing little over the last several years, but consistently helping customers with great, caring
service and a reliable product." Which type of strategy does A+ Enterprises use?
A) defensive strategy
B) merger approach
C) retrenchment strategy
D) growth strategy
E) stability strategy
Answer: E
Explanation: A stability strategy is a grand strategy that involves little or no significant change to
a product or to business practices.
Bloom's: Understand
31) Over the course of 40 years, Frank grew his company to six package shipping stores. With his
retirement approaching and the increased competition, he decided to reduce the number of
locations to two. Frank's reduction of effort represents a
A) merger approach.
B) fixed plan.
C) defensive strategy.
D) growth strategy.
E) stability strategy.
Answer: C
Explanation: A defensive strategy, or a retrenchment strategy, is a grand strategy that involves
reduction in the organization's efforts.
Bloom's: Understand
14
32) ________ is another term for a defensive strategy.
A) A retrenchment strategy
B) A fixed plan
C) The aggressive approach
D) A growth strategy
E) A stability strategy
Answer: A
Explanation: A defensive strategy, or a retrenchment strategy, is a grand strategy that involves
reduction in the organization's efforts.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
33) Strategy formulation is the process of

A) gaining information about competition and then selecting which information to react to.
B) choosing among different strategies and altering them to best fit the organization's needs.
C) strategically controlling your employees' actions.
D) selecting the employees who best fit the organization.
E) developing a strong diversity plan.
Answer: B
Explanation: Strategy formulation is the process of choosing among different strategies and
altering them to best fit the organization's needs.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
15
34) Edmond, the CEO of Hartman Manufacturing, said to his new vice president of accounting, "In
the past I had resistance to new ideas by employees who felt that our plans threatened their
influence or their jobs. So when you tell your collections department that we just hired a collection
agency to handle bad debt, you may have to sell your collections manager and his supervisors on
using the agency. You also have to emphasize the fact that nobody is going to be laid off." Selling
middle and supervisory managers on changes to overcome their resistance is often a necessary part
of
A) reality assessment.
B) strategy formulation.
C) strategic control.
D) operational control.
E) strategy implementation.
Answer: E
Explanation: Often strategy implementation means overcoming resistance by people who feel
the new plans threaten their influence or livelihood. Thus, top managers can't just announce the
plans; they have to actively sell them to middle and supervisory managers.
Bloom's: Understand
35) ________ is(are) included in strategic control.

A) Implementing MBO
B) A strong employee diversity and synergy agenda
C) Seldom making adjustments to a strategy
D) Monitoring the execution of strategy and making adjustments, if necessary,
E) Developing a diversity plan
Answer: D
Explanation: Strategic control consists of monitoring the execution of strategy and making
adjustments, if necessary.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
16
36) Bryan Barry suggests that to keep a strategic plan on track, organizations should
A) engage people, keep it simple, stay focused, and keep moving.
B) engage people, keep people happy, provide fun activities, and provide good benefits.
C) provide fun activities, provide good benefits, and keep it simple.
D) engage people, keep it simple, stay focused, and offer a good benefits package.
E) aggressively compete, cut costs, focus on customer service, and engage people.
Answer: A
Explanation: To keep a strategic plan on track, suggests Bryan Barry, you need to do the
following: engage people, keep it simple, stay focused, and keep moving.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
37) Lester, a chef and owner of Green Lantern, a popular restaurant, is always visiting his
competitors to observe how they are doing things in their restaurants. He told one of his managers,
"I eat dinner at a lot of restaurants because I want to know what is going on. I am always concerned
that one of our competitors will surprise us with a new service or menu item, like ours but better."
In which activity is Lester engaging?
A) assessing current reality
B) environmental planning
C) TQM
D) corporate spying
E) management by observation
Answer: A
Explanation: The second step in the strategic-management process, assessing current reality,
looks at where the organization stands internally and externally—to determine what's working and
what's not, to see what can be changed to create sustainable competitive advantage: Sustainable
competitive advantage exists when other companies cannot duplicate the value delivered to
customers. An assessment helps to create an objective view of everything the organization does: its
sources of revenue or funding, its workflow processes, its organizational structure, client
satisfaction, employee turnover, and other matters.
Topic: Organizational Environment
Bloom's: Understand
17
38) Armando, CEO of a successful medical supply company, is constantly reading press releases,
ads, and news articles about his competition. He regularly checks information about new
competitive products and visits trade shows to study his competition. Armando is involved in
A) analyzing strengths.
B) identifying weaknesses.
C) describing threats.
D) managing by observation.
E) evaluating opportunities.
Answer: E
Explanation: Organizational opportunities are environmental factors that the organization may
exploit for competitive advantage. Opportunities could be market segment analysis, industry and
competitive analysis, impact of technology on organization, product analysis, governmental
impacts, and other external factors.
Topic: Organizational Evaluation
Bloom's: Understand
39) Vicky keeps a close eye on her company's internal and external environment to discover
possible opportunities for new products and to discern possible threats from the competition. In
which activity is Vicky engaged?
A) the synergistic approach
B) SWOT analysis
C) corporate spying
D) management by observation
E) competitive intelligence
Answer: B
Explanation: SWOT analysis is a situational analysis in which a company assesses its strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Results from a SWOT analysis provide you with a realistic
understanding of your organization in relation to its internal and external environments so you can
better formulate strategy in pursuit of its mission.
Bloom's: Understand
18
40) A SWOT analysis is a(n)
A) search for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats influencing an organization's
competition.
B) diversity and synergy method used in vertical integration.
C) search for the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting an organization.
D) analysis of strategies, ways to improve, output methods, and threats influencing a company.
E) inexpensive method of implementing a forecast.
Answer: C
Explanation: SWOT analysis, also known as a situational analysis, is a search for the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting an organization.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Bloom's: Remember
41) Many customers shop at All Natural because of the employees' extensive product knowledge.
In a SWOT analysis, the employees' high levels of product knowledge are an example of the
company's
A) strengths.
B) threats.
C) weaknesses.
D) opportunities.
E) intelligence.
Answer: A
Explanation: Strengths are inside matters; they are the skills and capabilities that give the
organization special competencies and competitive advantages in executing strategies in pursuit of
its vision. Strengths could be work processes, organization, culture, staff, product quality,
production capacity, image, financial resources and requirements, service levels, and other internal
matters.
Topic: Organizational Strengths
Bloom's: Understand
19
42) Tito knows that one of the reasons people do not return to his electronics store is because of the
slow service. How would a SWOT analysis classify the slow service at Tito's electronic store?
A) as a strength
B) as a threat
C) as a weakness
D) as an opportunity
E) as intelligence
Answer: C
Explanation: Weaknesses are internal matters. They are the drawbacks that hinder an
organization in executing strategies in pursuit of its vision. Weaknesses could be in the same
categories as strengths: work processes, organization, culture, staff, product quality, production
capacity, image, financial resources and requirements, service levels, and other internal matters.
At Tito's electronics store, the slow service is a weakness.
Topic: Organizational Weaknesses
Bloom's: Understand
43) True Taste's Restaurant and Catering serves delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes. So, when
the local community became interested in eating a healthier diet, True Taste's benefited. In a
SWOT analysis, the changing community attitudes are an example of a(n) ________ for True
Taste's Restaurant.
A) strength
B) threat
C) weakness
D) opportunity
E) intelligence
Answer: D
Explanation: Opportunities are outside matters. They are environmental factors that the
organization may exploit for competitive advantage. Opportunities could be market segment
analysis, industry and competition analysis, impact of technology on organization, product
analysis, governmental impacts, and other external matters.
Topic: Organizational Opportunities
Bloom's: Understand
20
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Some were condemned for dishonesty and appropriation of the
public treasure. Others, among them the son of Al-Mansur, and
another Abdallah, who was of royal lineage and noted for his
avarice, fled to the Christian court for protection. Garcia Fernandez,
Count of Castile, entertained the son of the minister, until the
presence of a great Moslem army admonished him that the privilege
of asylum must yield to political necessity. As soon as the misguided
youth fell into the hands of his father he was beheaded. Then, with
exquisite cruelty, Al-Mansur devised a scheme of retaliation, which,
in spite of its malice, was singularly appropriate. He determined to
inflict upon the Count of Castile himself all the pangs resulting from
paternal disappointment and filial ingratitude. He instigated Sancho,
the son of Garcia, to form a party and drive his father from power.
The nobility unanimously declared for Sancho; a Mussulman force
sustained his pretensions; Al-Mansur seized Clunia and San
Estevan as his share of the spoil; and Garcia, having been wounded
and made captive in a skirmish, died soon afterwards in the hands of
the Saracens. The perfidy of Sancho was rewarded with the
government of Castile, which he held as a feudatory of the Khalif.
The fugitive King, Bermudo, whose usurpation had been attended
with a series of misfortunes, and whose dominions had, with the
exception of a contracted region of which Astorga was the centre,
been divided between his rebellious vassals and the Moors, in
defiance of the menaces of Al-Mansur, still continued to afford
protection to Abdallah, the only survivor of the principal conspirators.
The approach of the Mussulman troops and the seizure and sack of
Astorga, convinced the obstinate monarch of the expediency of
submission. Abdallah was surrendered, taken to Cordova, placed
upon a camel, and conducted through the streets of that city,
preceded by heralds who proclaimed him a traitor to his sovereign
and an apostate to his faith. His life was spared, but he was tortured
during the entire administration of Al-Mansur by being kept in daily
fear of execution; a fate which he endeavored to avert by the most
humiliating expressions of contrition, and by exhibitions of grovelling
servility which, so far from exciting the pity of the minister, only
increased his contempt.
A new and implacable adversary, and one whose position placed
her beyond the reach of the minister’s vengeance, now arose to defy
his power. The Sultana Aurora—who united to her amorous
susceptibilities all the obstinacy and vindictiveness of the Basques,
to which race she belonged—had for many years entertained the
closest relations with the favorite whose fortunes she had founded,
and whose success she had so zealously promoted. Their intimacy,
even during the lifetime of Al-Hakem, had been the scandal of the
capital. But the lady, like many of her sex, was inconstant, and other
lovers, including the kadi Ibn-al-Salim, also stood high in her favor.
As soon as Al-Mansur no longer required her services to advance
his interests, he had the imprudence to neglect his haughty mistress.
Deeply piqued, she began to meditate revenge. Her social rank, the
inviolability of her person, and her residence in the palace gave her
advantages which she was not slow to improve. With all the fiery
energy of her nature she represented to the Khalif the degradation of
the position he had been compelled to assume, and urged him to
assert his rights as a sovereign. Hischem, who had hitherto evinced
no dissatisfaction with his condition, was roused from his lethargy.
Under his mother’s dictation, he made a formal demand on the
minister for the prerogatives which the latter had usurped. The
viceroy of Africa, Ziri-Ibn-Atia, instigated by the agents of the
Sultana, rose in rebellion, and proclaimed himself the supporter of
the laws of the empire and the champion of its injured monarch. The
ingenuity of Aurora provided her partisans with an abundant supply
of money. The vaults of the palace of Medina-al-Zahrâ, where was
the national treasury, contained six million pieces of gold. They were
deposited in earthenware jars, sealed with wax and impressed with
the royal signet. The astute princess removed a hundred of the jars,
whose contents amounted to the sum of eighty thousand dinars,
broke the seals, covered the gold with honey, drugs, and syrups,
and, having attached to each an appropriate label, caused them to
be conveyed by her slaves to a palace in the city, whence they were,
without delay, transported to Africa. The rage of Al-Mansur on finding
himself thus outwitted by a woman was extreme, but it availed him
nothing. He could not venture to offer violence or even reproaches to
the mother of his sovereign whose servant he was in name. The
trend of recent events suggested that Hischem might have
consented that the money be employed for the recovery of his
imperial dignity. Desirous of obtaining the sanction of law in a matter
of such vital importance, Al-Mansur called the great officers of state
together. To them he represented that the women of the harem were
plundering the treasury, and requested permission to remove the
gold from the palace. This was readily granted; but when the officers
exhibited their warrant, they were refused admission to the vaults, on
the plea that the Khalif had not authorized the removal of the
treasure. Foiled once more, the minister—whose genius, fertile in
expedients and undaunted by reverses, never once despaired of
success—devised a plan whose audacity would have appalled a less
determined mortal. Perfectly familiar with all the approaches to the
palace, he penetrated by a secret passage to the apartments of the
Khalif. His unexpected appearance and menacing aspect terrified
the imbecile prince, who protested that he had no desire to thwart
the designs of the minister, and, without hesitation, signed an order
for the removal of the gold. The politic Al-Mansur, at the same time,
extorted from him an edict by which he unreservedly renounced, in
favor of the hajib, all practical control of the government of the
empire. This explicit and indisputable confirmation of the authority of
the latter at once legalized every act which he had already
committed in a public capacity. In a measure, it invested his person
with the sanctity that appertained to his master, and rendered all
liable to the penalty of treason whose intemperate language or
whose violence should be directed against the authorized
representative of absolute sovereignty.
An enterprise of surpassing difficulty and danger, and one which
the bravest of the Ommeyade khalifs had never ventured to
undertake, was now planned by the greatest statesman and warrior
of his age. The shrine of St. James of Compostella was one of the
most renowned for wealth and sanctity in Christendom. In the
marvels which had attended its foundation, in the fame of its
miracles, in the number and potency of its sacred relics, in the
touching interest attaching to its legends, it scarcely yielded to the
sacred traditions of the Eternal City. A countless multitude of pilgrims
from every country where the name of the Saviour was revered had
for generations deposited their oblations upon its altars. The modest
chapel which had marked the site of the apostle’s grave soon after
its discovery during the reign of the pious Alfonso had been replaced
by a stately cathedral of marble, decorated with all the rude
magnificence of which the decadent art of the age was capable. A
numerous priesthood, the splendor of whose appointments and the
luxury of whose lives indicated a dispensation with the vow of
poverty, ministered to the wants of the pilgrims, and acknowledged,
with affected gratitude and humility, the bestowal of their donations
and the performance of their vows.
The reverence entertained by the Spanish Christians for the
sepulchre of St. James far exceeded that with which the most fanatic
Mussulman regarded the Prophet’s tomb at Medina. Already,
industriously propagated by monkish imposture and popular
credulity, wondrous tales were whispered of the appearance of the
apostle on a milk-white steed at the head of the Christian squadrons,
an infallible harbinger of victory, and a delusion of ominous import to
the Saracen intruders in the Peninsula. History affords no parallel to
the momentous effects produced by the adoption of this frivolous
legend. The circumstances of its origin, which contemptuously
violated every probability of time or place; its universal acceptance
by individuals of every rank in life; its subsequent extension to the
distant lands of an unknown world; the blind and unquestioning faith
with which the impossible miracles of its subject were received, offer
an eloquent commentary on the boundless influence of the Catholic
hierarchy and the debased superstition of the age.
The destruction of the church of Santiago was now the aim of Al-
Mansur. The depressing influence of such a signal triumph over the
adversaries of Islam, it was thought with much reason, would be
incalculable. The immunity enjoyed by the Christian sanctuary of
Spain was attributed by its votaries to the protection afforded by the
body of the saint, far more than to the natural difficulties which an
enemy must surmount to reach his shrine. Even could an invasion
occur and the desecration of the cathedral be threatened, it was
firmly believed that the miraculous intervention of Heaven—more
marked even than that which deterred the Romans from rebuilding
the temple of Jerusalem—would avert such a calamity from one of
the holiest places of the Christian world. The removal of these
impressions, by demonstrating the incapacity of St. James to defend
his own relics, must certainly weaken the faith of the multitude in his
ability to protect the lives of others. The prestige derived from the
interposition of supernatural influence would be seriously impaired.
The menacing spectre of the patron of Spain would no longer inspire
the fanaticism of his followers to strike terror into the Saracen
armies. These conclusions of Al-Mansur, while founded on reason, in
the end proved fallacious. The superstitious veneration, which,
confirmed by blind ignorance and credulity for centuries, now
exercised its power over an entire people, was too deeply rooted to
be more than temporarily affected by the most glaring sacrilege.
The campaign was carefully planned. Every precaution was taken
to provide against any possibility of failure. Marching westward, the
several divisions of Moslem cavalry assembled at Coria. At Oporto
they were joined by the fleet, in which the infantry had already
embarked. A number of Christian vassals, attended by their
retainers, responded to the summons of their suzerain, and lent their
reluctant aid to the injury of their faith and the destruction of their
countrymen. The Douro was crossed upon a bridge constructed of
ships. Roads were cut through rocky and precipitous mountains.
Broad estuaries and rivers were forded. The country, which had long
suffered from repeated forays, was depopulated, and could offer no
resistance. When the mountains of Galicia appeared in the distance,
the resolution of the Christian allies faltered. Some of the counts
entered into a secret correspondence with the enemy. Their designs
were betrayed, and a number of Leonese nobles underwent the
extreme penalty of treason. This salutary example insured the
wavering loyalty of their companions, who henceforth found it
expedient to conceal their real sentiments under an appearance of
obedience and alacrity.
The region now traversed by the Moslems had hitherto been safe
from their inroads. This circumstance, the sacred character of the
territory, and the wealth of the clergy had attracted to the vicinity of
Santiago a large and busy population. Ecclesiastical establishments
abounded. Along the hill-sides were countless hermitages, shrines,
and chapels. Almost every valley was occupied by a monastery or a
convent. The lands susceptible of cultivation were tilled by slaves or
dependents of the religious houses, whose condition differed little
from that of hereditary servitude. The mansions of the prelates of
high rank exhibited a palatial magnificence, and were not
infrequently tenanted by occupants of the softer sex, whose charms
of face and figure indicated an appreciation of female beauty hardly
to be expected from their pious companions.
The utter demoralization of the Christian kingdoms through
domestic feuds and incessant warfare, added to the terror inspired
by the name of Al-Mansur, precluded the possibility of effectual
resistance. The inhabitants, taking with them their portable property
and the bones of their saints and kings, fled to the mountains or to
islands off the sea-coast. Santiago was completely deserted. The
invaders obtained a rich booty from the shrines of innumerable
chapels and monasteries. Every building in the city, including the
famous cathedral, was razed to the ground. The latter was
constructed of marble and granite. Its plan and decoration exhibited
the corrupt taste and barbaric splendor inherited from the Visigoths,
whose faults of design had been aggravated by the native rudeness
of the Galician architects. In front of the high altar stood the statue of
the saint, carved by the pious but unpractised hand of a Gothic
sculptor, and enclosed in a shrine of massy silver. Every portion of it
except the face was painted or profusely gilded. One hand clasped a
Bible, the other was raised aloft in the attitude of benediction. The
kisses of innumerable pilgrims had almost obliterated the coarse and
grotesque features of the image. By its side were disposed the
emblems of the vagrant apostle, the staff, the calabash, the scallop
shells. Its head was partially enveloped with a hood identical in
shape with that worn by every pilgrim and glittering with jewels.
The statue and the tomb of the apostle escaped desecration,
through the policy of Al-Mansur, who feared to exasperate his allies,
already shocked by the sacrilegious deeds of their infidel
companions in arms. This forbearance of the Moslem general was
afterwards distorted by the clergy into a stupendous miracle. The
Mauritanian cavalry plundered the neighboring settlements and
intercepted many parties of fugitives, including not a few
ecclesiastics, whose faith in the supernatural virtues of the image
and the relics of the saint vanished quickly before the gleaming
lances of the Saracen cavalry.
The return of the army to Cordova was signalized by a military
demonstration that rivalled the pomp of a Roman triumph. In the rear
of the troops, chained together by fifties, thousands of Christian
captives, laden with the spoils and trophies of victory, trudged
painfully along. Some carried the sacrilegious plunder of many a
venerated shrine. Others supported upon their shoulders the
ponderous gates of the city of Santiago. Others, again, sank under
the weight of the bells of the cathedral, into whose molten mass, as
yet unformed, pious devotees of either sex had cast their treasure
and their jewels; whose clangor had solemnized the installation of
many a prelate and the sepulture of many a saint; had aroused the
enthusiasm and the devotion of pilgrims of every clime; had, until this
fatal hour, been heard in a land believed to be exempt from the
outrages of the infidel, but were now destined to be exhibited in his
greatest temple as tokens of the supremacy attained by the most
implacable foe of Christianity. In the addition to the Great Mosque,
then building under the direction of Al-Mansur, these souvenirs of the
most memorable campaign undertaken by the arms of the Western
Khalifate were deposited, amidst the frenzied acclamations of the
people. The gates were used to form a portion of the ceiling, and
from them, sustained by chains of bronze, the great bells were hung
inverted, to be utilized as lamps during the ceremonies of the
numerous festivals prescribed by the Moslem ritual.
The career of the Mauritanian rebel Zira-Ibn-Atia, whom the
prodigality of the Sultana Aurora had enabled to assert his
independence, under pretext of liberating the Khalif, was not of long
duration. The first army sent over by Al-Mansur to chastise his
insolence met with disaster. The second, commanded by his own
son, Abd-al-Melik-al-Modhaffer, vanquished the forces of Zira after a
desperate struggle. The latter, with the loss of his possessions, was
also stripped of his power, and died soon after of wounds received in
battle.
Early in the spring of the year 1002 the indefatigable Al-Mansur
again invaded the territory of the Christians. This time his hostility
was directed against the shrine of St. Emilian, the patron saint of
Castile, whose church was in the village of Canales. The town, the
chapel, and the convents, with all their paraphernalia of priestly
imposture and superstition, were destroyed. But the renowned
commander, whose prowess had so long sustained the reputation of
the Moslem arms, had fought his last campaign. A painful malady,
whose cause was unknown, and whose symptoms baffled the skill of
the best physicians of Cordova, had some months before attacked
him. The exposure and excitement of this expedition increased its
violence. The illustrious sufferer became so weak that he was forced
to travel in a litter. It was evident from his emaciated form and
incessant agony that he was fast approaching his end. At Medina-
Celi the army halted. Its general could proceed no farther. A
universal feeling of sorrow arose as the sad tidings of the condition
of the dying chieftain spread throughout the camp.
The memory of the turbulent populace of the capital, and the
consciousness that it had required all the energy of his determined
character to triumph over his domestic enemies, embittered the last
moments of Al-Mansur. He dreaded the inauguration of anarchy and
the resultant partition of the khalifate. He was only too well
acquainted with the instability of the vast and magnificent fabric of
greatness which his genius had reared. With a view to preserve as
long as possible for his sons the power he was unable to legally
transmit, he directed Abd-al-Melik to hasten at once to Cordova and
assume command of the garrison. To his second son, Abd-al-
Rahman, he transferred his authority over the army. Many wise
injunctions were imparted by their dying parent to these two young
officers, whose military character had been formed under his own
eye during many eventful campaigns. The elder, who was not an
unworthy descendant of so great a sire, profited largely by his
opportunities. The younger, unequal to the task of government, was
destined to realize the worst expectations his acquaintances had
formed of his erratic and licentious nature.
His instructions ended, the strength of Al-Mansur gave way, and
he received with calm resignation the inexorable summons of the
Angel of Death. For years he had entertained a presentiment that he
should end his days at the head of his army, perhaps in the heat of
battle. It was not only his hope, but he made it the subject of his daily
petitions, that Allah would vouchsafe to him the glorious privilege of
dying in war against the infidel, thereby to merit the recompense of
martyrdom. In expectation of a favorable answer to his prayers, the
arrangements for his burial were always ready. His shroud was
invariably included among the effects of his camp equipage. It was of
linen made from flax grown on his paternal estate at Torrox and
woven by the hands of his own daughters. His conscience told him
that the material thus produced and prepared was not tainted with
the bloody reminiscences that popular report insinuated too often
attached to his other possessions. The provident statesman, whose
aspirations were not confined to matters terrestrial, and carrying into
his relations with Allah the same prudence which had distinguished
his earthly career, neglected no precaution to insure his salvation. A
well-known text of the Koran declares that he who appears before
the Almighty with the dust of the Holy War upon his feet shall be
exempt from the tortures of eternal fire. To secure this advantage on
the Day of Judgment, Al-Mansur carried with him in all his
campaigns a silver casket of elegant design, into which, every
evening when the army halted, his attendants carefully collected the
dust which had accumulated upon his garments during the day.
Enveloped in the shroud prepared for so many years, and sprinkled
with this holy dust, the body of the great Moslem general was laid at
rest in the city of Medina-Celi.
The character of Mohammed-Ibn-Amir-Al-Mansur has already
been partially delineated in these pages. In it both good and evil
were unsparingly mingled. Beyond measure shrewd, politic,
audacious, and resolute, he was an adept in instigating others to the
commission of discreditable acts by which he profited, while his
instruments alone endured the odium attaching to them. By the
irresistible force of intellect he had risen from obscurity to the
enjoyment of imperial power. No act of wanton cruelty ever polluted
his administration. Yet such was his firmness and the fear in which
he was held that no sedition during his ascendency disturbed the
peace of the khalifate. His conduct on all occasions where his
personal interests were not immediately concerned was, for the most
part, guided by the principles of equity. His own son was sacrificed to
the maintenance of public order. The deeds of violence and tyranny
for which he was so grossly abused were the results of political
necessity,—measures suggested by the pressing exigencies of the
occasion, and dictated by the instinct of self-preservation. Born in a
comparatively humble rank of life, his matrimonial alliances were
sought by princes. The daughters of Bermudo, King of the Asturias,
and Sancho, King of Navarre, were inmates of his harem. Despite
his talents as a statesman and his long series of military triumphs,
his popularity was superficial, and his position was maintained with
difficulty. He was everywhere designated by the significant and
opprobrious nickname of “The Fox.” His old literary associates
envied and maligned him. The courtiers were jealous of his rapidly
acquired fame, and sedulously depreciated his abilities. The
eunuchs justly attributed to his agency the impairment of their
political fortunes, and held him in detestation as the relentless
enemy of their caste. The aristocracy sneered at his pretensions and
privately denounced him as an insolent parvenu. The fanatical
populace repeated his alleged atheistic speeches with pious horror,
a feeling which even his ostentatious charity and apparently strict
observance of the duties of a faithful Mussulman could not
counteract. Inconsistent with the encouragement of literature, as the
narrow policy which delivered the scientific works of the library of Al-
Hakem to the tender mercies of ignorant bigots would seem to
indicate, Al-Mansur was, nevertheless, a munificent patron of letters.
His house was so frequented by men of genius and literary
proclivities that it was compared to an academy. He often visited the
University, listened to the lectures of the teachers, and rewarded the
proficiency of the students. By his express orders the recitations
were not suspended either at his entrance or his departure. Many of
the most accomplished scholars of the East and West continued
under his auspices, as they had done under those of Al-Hakem, to
adorn the court, and to delight with their learning the critical and
fastidious society of Cordova. A special fund, appropriated from the
public treasury, was assigned for the support of these distinguished
guests of the State. Famous grammarians, poets, and historians,
who found this a lucrative field for the exercise of their talents, took
up their residence in the capital. The reputations of the physicians
and surgeons of Andalusia, now greater than ever, had long since
spread to the remotest borders of Europe. Whenever Al-Mansur
undertook an expedition, there followed in his train a number of
bards and chroniclers, who could without delay record his
achievements, and celebrate in the most stirring and pathetic strains
of which the poesy of the Desert was capable the valor, the
generosity, the piety, of the renowned champion of the Moslem faith.
Forty-one of the most accomplished literary men of the empire
accompanied the army for this purpose during the Catalonian
campaign.
The enlargement of the Mosque, whose size was doubled by the
additions of Al-Mansur, was undertaken quite as much to restore his
failing credit with the ministers of religion as to accommodate the
vast and increasing crowds which on Fridays assembled in the
House of God. The land required for the extension was paid for at
twice the valuation, already sufficiently exorbitant, estimated by the
owners themselves. In the garden of an old woman, whose premises
it was absolutely necessary for the architect to secure, stood a
magnificent palm. At first she obstinately refused to sell her property,
but after repeated solicitations she consented to exchange it for
another residence in whose grounds was a tree of equal size and
beauty. But even amidst the tropical vegetation of the environs of
Cordova such a condition was not easily complied with. At length, in
the vicinity of Medina-al-Zahrâ, an estate which possessed the
desired requisite was procured at a fabulous price.
In imitation of his predecessors the khalifs, Al-Mansur performed
for weeks the duties of a common laborer on the foundation and the
superstructure of the Mosque. This addition, still intact, constructed
of coarse materials and unsymmetrical in form, is readily
distinguishable from the rest of the interior, whose sweeping
horseshoe arches and exquisite decorations are models of grace
and beauty. So meritorious was this work considered by the
Mussulman theologians, that they declared that its accomplishment
alone was sufficient to obtain for its author a seat in Paradise.
The energy of Al-Mansur was far from being consumed in military
expeditions and the pursuit of glory. In the frequent intervals of
peace his efforts were largely directed to improving the condition of
his subjects, the highest and most noble title to distinction to which a
ruler can aspire. He reformed the abuses which had crept into the
administration of justice. He checked the peculations which were
exhausting the treasury, by the institution of a rigid system of
accounts and the severe punishment of dishonest officials. He
sternly rebuked the intolerance of zealots who attempted to
establish, without his sanction, a policy of persecution for opinions
which they considered heretical. With his advent to power, the
malignant influence of the eunuchs was no longer felt in the
precincts of the court, and the uneasy genius of this pernicious class
was diverted from the tortuous paths of political intrigue to the
harmless and pleasing occupations of literature and art. He improved
the breed of horses by the importation of the purest blood of Arabia.
There was scarcely a river in Andalusia which could not boast of a
bridge either built or repaired by the orders of the able and tireless
minister. New highways were opened. Old ones were widened and
extended. By these wise acts of public utility not only was the march
of troops facilitated, but the trade of country and city was
prodigiously increased, with a corresponding diminution of the price
of provisions, whose abundance and cheapness materially benefited
all classes of the population. The best commentary on his
transcendent abilities is found in the fact that the empire which he
had ruled with such glory and success perished with him. His
majestic personality dominated everything. In the history of Islam no
similar example of universally recognized individual superiority has
ever been recorded. This extraordinary genius seemed impregnable
to the temptations which usually assail the favorites of fortune. He
was addicted to none of those unnatural vices whose practice defiled
the characters of even the greatest of the Ommeyades. His harem
was maintained rather as an accessory to his dignity than as an
instrument of his pleasures. His amour with Aurora, which had
provoked the sarcastic jests of the populace, had been from first to
last a mere matter of policy. The passion of the Sultana he had
deliberately used as the instrument of his ambition; when it had
served his purpose it was as deliberately cast aside. With every
opportunity for the accumulation of untold wealth, Al-Mansur
acquired no more than was necessary to sustain the pomp incident
to his exalted rank. Avarice had no place in his nature. His own
treasure as well as that of the government he freely dispensed in
charitable donations. The slightest act of extortion committed by one
of his subordinates was met with chastisement that barely left the
offender with life. No one who had merited his gratitude was ever
forgotten in the distribution of official honors. No one whose
insolence had at any time provoked his indignation went unpunished.
In the accomplishment of his ambition, he persistently ignored the
most obvious principles of morality. In his administration of petty
offices of the inferior magistracy and of the highest employments of
the state alike, he ordinarily observed the rules of the most impartial
justice. After every victory gained by his arms he liberated hundreds
of slaves.
A delusive appearance of moderation is suggested by the conduct
of Al-Mansur, when we reflect that he denied himself the more than
regal prestige which attached to the name of Commander of the
Faithful. There is no doubt, however, that he ardently coveted that
distinction. The possession of the substance of power did not satisfy
his lofty aspirations. He arrogated to himself the remaining titles of
the Khalif, as he had already appropriated the latter’s prerogatives.
He substituted his own seal for that of the injured Hischem. He boldly
assumed the right to appoint his son to the office of prime minister,
the very employment from which he himself derived his entire
authority. The brilliancy of his achievements, the extent of his
renown, the autocratic exertion of his power, had awed and dazzled
his subjects, but had not secured their attachment. The masses
openly applauded and secretly detested him. The various nations
composing the population of Moorish Spain, while mutually hostile in
many respects, were firmly united in their reverence for the
inalienable rights of the crown. The religious character which
invested the Khalif deepened and intensified this feeling. The
sagacity of Al-Mansur did not suffer him to be deluded with the idea
that he could violate with impunity the most sacred opinions and
prejudices of the people. Moreover, an ancient tradition, universally
believed, declared that a change of the dynasty portended the
speedy destruction of the khalifate. The man who in defiance of
these ideas could attempt open usurpation was a public enemy,
something worse, if possible, than a traitor. For these cogent
reasons, therefore, Al-Mansur did not seize the royal office, which,
had he been able to assume it, might perhaps have retained the
succession in his own family. As it was, he weakened the veneration
entertained for the principle of legitimacy, without acquiring for his
descendants any permanent advantage in return for the sacrifice. No
one realized these facts so thoroughly as himself. The future of the
empire engrossed his thoughts. It presented itself to his mind amidst
the deliberations of the Divan, in the literary discussions of the
University, in the manœuvres on the field of battle. It disturbed his
slumbers. It embittered his dying moments. The mortal torture he
endured from the reflection that by his agency the integrity of the
khalifate had been irretrievably impaired, and that he could not
transmit the inheritance of his glory, was almost as intense as any he
could have experienced through remorse for crimes perpetrated in
the pursuit of his unrighteous ambition.
The history of the campaigns of Al-Mansur differs materially from
that of the military enterprises of his predecessors. Heretofore, in all
important wars, the Christians were the aggressors. But under the
minister of Hischem the Moslems always led the attack. Other rulers
had negotiated treaties either prompted by victory or compelled by
defeat. In twenty-five years he never made terms with the infidel. His
success became habitual, and infused a just confidence into his own
followers, while in a corresponding degree it disheartened the
enemy. Almost for the first time in the annals of Islam the peremptory
injunction of the Koran was fulfilled to the letter. The effects of one
campaign were not repaired before the calamities of another were at
hand. The frontier to the Christian states receded. The great cities of
Zamora, Leon, Astorga, Barcelona, Pampeluna, Santiago were
levelled with the dust. Cathedrals and monasteries were plundered
of wealth bestowed by pious sovereigns and generations of grateful
devotees. The incomes of the priesthood ceased on account of the
devastation of their estates. With the ruin of the religious houses and
the impoverishment of their occupants, the Christian worship
declined. The prestige of the ecclesiastical order was weakened, and
over an extensive region once abounding with churches and
convents scarcely a reminiscence of Christianity survived. By the
successive desecration of the two holiest shrines in Europe, the faith
of the multitude in the boasted efficacy of relics, in the celestial
intercession of saints, and even in the value of religion itself, was
seriously shaken. The misfortunes of the clergy—who still, however,
retained a portion of their ancient discipline—reacted on the other
divisions of society, already sufficiently demoralized. The monarch
and the nobles evinced a disposition to resist the insolent demands
of the priesthood, and have been, in consequence, anathematized
by prelates and defamed by chroniclers. The king seized without
ceremony the property of his subjects. The barons plundered the
royal estates, and cast lots for the serfs and the flocks which they
had appropriated. In less than twenty years the Christians lost all
they had gained in the previous three hundred. Even the defiles of
their mountains were occupied by Moorish garrisons, and the
Asturian peasant was compelled to purchase the uncertain privilege
of procuring his own sustenance by the surrender of the larger share
of the results of his labor. Such were the effects of the policy of Al-
Mansur on the two rival nations of the Peninsula, a policy whose
benefits perished with the author, but whose evils were destined to
be augmented and perpetuated through a long period of national
misfortune and disorder.
Berber immigration, encouraged by the conspicuous favor
enjoyed by the African divisions of the army, as well as by the rich
rewards of successful warfare, and which was fated to inflict such
disasters upon the dismembered monarchy, increased beyond
precedent during the administration of Al-Mansur. Entire tribes
passed the Strait to share the tempting spoil of the Holy War. There
was no room for these ferocious soldiers in the crowded cities. Even
in the country, so thickly populated, space could hardly be found for
their encampments. Their tents were pitched in the pastures and on
the slopes of the sierra. Their fierce aspect appalled all who beheld
them. Their costumes and their arms were strange and foreign.
Ignorant of Arabic, the guttural accents of their Mauritanian dialect
grated upon the ears of the polished Andalusian. In times of the
greatest victories, when the people were intoxicated with success,
there were discerning men who dreaded the ascendency of such
dangerous allies. It was, however, the inexhaustible supply of African
recruits which secured the unbroken series of triumphs that
signalized the career of Al-Mansur. Their numbers were
overwhelming. In a review held before an expedition into the North,
six hundred thousand troops were mustered in the plain of Cordova.
The news of the death of the potent minister was received by the
majority of the inhabitants of the capital with a feeling of exultation.
With the multitude, his eminent services could not atone for the
obscurity of his birth or the splendor of his fortune. The animosities
of contending sects, the jealousies of competing tradesmen, the
envy of the masses towards the powerful, the disdain of the wealthy
for the poor, were forgotten in the common desire to humiliate the
family of the great chieftain through whose genius the Moslem
empire had enjoyed such an extraordinary measure of prosperity
and fame. An insurrection broke out. The mob, surrounding the
palace, demanded that the Khalif in person should assume the
direction of affairs. But the latter, who now, more than ever, felt his
incompetency to govern, again voluntarily renounced the rights of
sovereignty. The tumult increased; the garrison was called out, and
Al-Modhaffer signalized his accession as hajib by the massacre of
several hundred citizens. This example of severity was not soon
forgotten; the spirit of revolt was crushed, and Al-Mansur, who on his
death-bed had foreseen the occurrence of a similar catastrophe,
thus averted by his prophetic wisdom a rebellion, which, unchecked,
must have been productive of appalling consequences. The prince,
Al-Modhaffer, inherited in no small degree the military talents and
capacity for civil affairs possessed by his father, whose maxims he in
the main adopted. Few details exist relative to his administration,
which, however, was eminently popular and successful. The
expeditions he made into the Christian territory were not attended
with the brilliant results which characterized the exploits of his father.
Neither profit nor glory could be derived from the invasion of a desert
and the chase of bands of wandering robbers. These forays,
however, served the useful purpose of intimidation, and impeded the
recovery of the Christian power. Relieved from the prodigality and
great military expenses incurred by the aggressive policy of Al-
Mansur, the inexhaustible resources of the Peninsula were permitted
to develop to the utmost. Commerce, manufactures, agriculture,
flourished to a degree heretofore unknown. The rule of Al-Modhaffer
is regretfully alluded to by subsequent writers as coincident with the
golden age of Moslem annals.
After a reign of seven years, Al-Modhaffer died, under
circumstances which raised a strong suspicion of poison. By a
previous arrangement, which popular rumor suggested as the motive
of his death, his office was transferred to his brother, Abd-al-
Rahman. The latter was the offspring of a Christian princess, the
daughter of Sancho, King of Navarre. By his vices and his
blasphemy he had incurred the dislike of the people and provoked
the execration of the theologians. The former, in memory of his
infidel grandfather, fastened upon him the diminutive “Sanchol,” an
epithet of contempt. The latter recounted with indignant horror his
immoderate indulgence in wine and his open ridicule of the sacred
ceremonies of Islam. Aware of his unpopularity, Abd-al-Rahman
nevertheless continued to outrage public sentiment, and made no
attempt to gain the attachment of his subjects or to conciliate his
ecclesiastical adversaries. He even had the audacity to ask of
Hischem his investiture and acknowledgment as heir presumptive to
the throne. The Khalif was prevailed upon, partly by sophistry, partly
by threats, to comply with this extravagant and impolitic demand,
and an edict was drawn up in due form and published, proclaiming
the detested Sanchol heir to the titles and the authority of the
illustrious dynasty of the Ommeyades.
No measure could have been devised by his most bitter enemy so
fatal to the aspirations of its promoter as this concession wrung from
a reluctant and persecuted sovereign. It was alike an insult to
religion and to loyalty. It attacked the sacred character of the
Successor of the Prophet, while attempting to abrogate the
prerogatives which, in the eye of the devoted subject, were
inseparable from the condition of sovereignty. Sanchol further
increased the prevailing discontent by compelling the soldiers to
discard the helmet for the turban, an innovation which, appropriating
a distinctive portion of the attire of theologians, was generally
regarded as a flagrant act of sacrilege.
Careless of public opinion, and confident of the stability of his
power, Sanchol began to entertain aspirations to military distinction.
He led an expedition into the Asturias, the results of which were not
flattering to his vanity. The mountain defiles, filled with snow,
impeded his progress, and the scarcity of provisions, which he had
neglected to provide in sufficient quantities, finally compelled him to
retreat. In the mean time Cordova was in revolt. A band of
conspirators headed by Mohammed, a great-grandson of Abd-al-
Rahman III., surprised the citadel. The unfortunate Hischem, the
puppet of every faction, was compelled to abdicate. The religious
fanatics and the populace hailed the change of government with
extravagant expressions of joy, a feeling by no means shared by the
wealthy and intelligent, who anticipated with undisguised concern the
destructive tyranny of a succession of military adventurers.
The first act of Mohammed was the seizure of Zahira. The
stronghold of the Amirides was entered and sacked by an infuriated
rabble. For four days the beautiful palace founded by Al-Mansur was
at the mercy of the revolutionists and outlaws of the capital. The long
rows of villas, which, embosomed in shady groves of palm- and
orange-trees, stretched away to the Guadalquivir, were visited with
the same destruction. Everything portable, even to the woodwork,
was removed. No estimate could be made of the plunder secured by
the mob, who ransacked every apartment; but the soldiers of
Mohammed delivered to their master two million one hundred
thousand pieces of silver and a million five hundred thousand pieces
of gold. The torch was then applied and the entire suburb was
reduced to ashes. The stones were gradually appropriated for the
construction of other buildings, and in a few years the memory as
well as the ruins of the seat of the Amirides had completely
vanished.
When the intelligence of these events was transmitted to Sanchol
at Toledo, he set out at once with his army for Cordova. The march
had scarcely begun before he experienced the full extent of his
unpopularity, which heretofore he had refused to believe. His force
was diminished daily by desertions. Many of the soldiers who
remained refused to obey their officers. At a short distance from the
capital, the Berbers, on whom he placed his main reliance, left the
camp at midnight, and morning found the commander with a slender
retinue, whose number did not equal that of his ordinary body-guard.
Notwithstanding these ominous indications, the infatuation of
Sanchol, who fancied that the people of Cordova would, by the mere
effect of his presence, be induced to return to their allegiance, urged
him on to his ruin. He was seized by the troops of Mohammed,
beheaded, his body clothed in rags and nailed to a stake, and then
placed with the head—which was impaled on a pike—in one of the
most public quarters of the city. With the death of Sanchol, the rule of
the Amirides, who, in a subordinate capacity, had for a generation
exercised despotic power, and whose policy was destined to visit
upon their countrymen a long series of misfortunes, terminated
forever.
The pernicious effects of the practical usurpation of Al-Mansur
now became apparent. The ambition of every aspiring partisan was
encouraged by the example of that gifted leader whose extraordinary
talents had raised him to such a height of affluence and renown.
Mohammed was no sooner fairly seated upon the throne, when
the populace again began to murmur. The excitement of revolution,
once enjoyed, was too pleasant to be abandoned for the severe
restraints of law and social order. And in reality only too much cause
existed for popular dissatisfaction. The new sovereign was cruel,
rapacious, dissolute. He took the heads of rebellious vassals sent
him by his generals, had them cleansed, and the skulls—in which
flowers had been planted—arranged in fantastic designs in the
garden of his palace. His drunken and licentious orgies were the
reproach of the court. He alienated the theologians, who soon
discovered that they had made a bad exchange for even the
dissipated and impious Sanchol. He persecuted the Berbers, who
had inherited the vices and the unpopularity of the eunuchs, but who
for a quarter of a century had been the support of the monarchy. To
avoid the possible restoration of Hischem, he publicly announced his
death, substituted for his corpse that of a Christian killed for the
occasion, and who bore a striking likeness to the Khalif, and
celebrated his obsequies with all the magnificence due to departed
royalty. The performance of the rites of Mussulman burial over the
body of an infidel was, in the eyes of every true believer, a deed of
unparalleled infamy. The unpopularity of Mohammed increased daily.
A sedition broke out headed by Hischem, a grandson of Abd-al-
Rahman III., who boldly demanded the crown of his kinsman. The
usurper pretended to accede, and secretly despatched emissaries to
incite the Berbers to plunder the capital. The scheme was
successful; at the first appearance of these detested foreigners in
the market-place, the tradesmen arose in a body and, aided by the
royal body-guard, drove the Africans from the city. The pretender
was taken in the confusion attending the skirmish and immediately
executed.
His place was filled by Suleyman, another prince of the
Ommeyade line. Negotiations were entered into with the Count of
Castile, who, in consideration of the surrender of certain territory,
agreed to furnish a large contingent of men and horses. As soon as
their organization was effected, the Berbers marched on the capital.
A battle was fought on the plain of Cantich, but the disorderly rabble
of Cordova were unable to resist the fierce onset of the African
cavalry, and ten thousand of the partisans of Mohammed fell by the
sword or perished in the Guadalquivir. Mohammed then liberated
Hischem, whose supposed corpse he had buried, resigned his
dignity, and proclaimed the son of Al-Hakem sovereign of Spain. But
the ruse had no effect. The Cordovans admitted the Berbers, and
Suleyman occupied the palace of the khalifs.
Henceforth the story of the Peninsula is one of anarchy and ruin.
Every province, every hamlet, was a prey to the hatred of contending
parties intensified by the daily infliction of mutual outrages. Christian

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