CHAPTER VI

CHRISTIAN SPAIN IN THE MOSLEM PERIOD, 711-1035

[Sidenote: Fitful character of the Christian reconquest.]

One of the popular misconceptions of the Moslem period in the history of Spain is that the Christians began a holy war almost from the time of the Moslem invasion, and continued to gain in fervor and in power, step by step, until at length they took Granada in 1492. In fact religious enthusiasm and national conquest alike were fitful and spasmodic, and very little progress was made in the period of the emirs and caliphs.

[Sidenote: The kingdom of Asturias.]

[Sidenote: Covadonga.]

It has usually been held, although the matter is in dispute, that the Visigoths resisted the invaders continuously at only one point in Spain,--in Asturias. In the mountains of Asturias there gathered various nobles of the centre and south of Spain, a number of bishops, and the remains of the defeated Christian armies, and, aided perhaps by the natives of that land, they prepared to make a stand against the Moslems. On the news of the death of Roderic they elected a certain Pelayo as his successor, and it is this king who is customarily regarded as the founder of the Spanish monarchy. Pelayo fixed his capital at Cangas de Onís, and is believed to have maintained amicable relations with the Moslems for a while, perhaps paying them tribute, and possibly even making a visit to Cordova. Hostilities broke out again, however, and in the year 718 Pelayo and his partisans won a victory in the valley of Covadonga. Coming as it did after several years of defeats this achievement attained to a renown which was far greater than the merits of the actual battle, and in later years legendary accounts made the combat itself assume extraordinary proportions. It has usually been taken as marking the beginning of the Christian reconquests, and it is said that Pelayo became king in consequence of the battle, when in fact he was elected several years before. The battle of Covadonga did secure eastern Asturias to the Christians, which was its immediate result. Aside from that tiny kingdom there is no proof that there were any independent Christian states in Spain, although it is probable that there were several in the other mountainous parts of the north.

[Sidenote: The advance of the Asturian frontier.]

Since the invaders respected the religion and customs of the conquered, the war of the Christian kingdom of Asturias against them did not at first have a religious or even a racial character. It was a war of the nobles and clergy for the reconquest of their landed estates and of the king for the restoration of his royal authority over the peninsula. The little Asturian kingdom was like the old Visigothic state in miniature; for example, there were the struggles between the nobility and the crown for precisely the same objects as formerly. For a century the history of Asturias reduced itself primarily to these quarrels. Nevertheless, the Moslem frontier tended to withdraw from the far northwest, not that the Moslems were forced out by the Christians, but possibly because their own civil wars drew them together in the centre and south, or because their numbers were not great enough to make them seek the less desirable lands in the northwest. The frontier became fixed south of the Douro along a line running through Coimbra, Coria, Talavera, Toledo, Guadalajara, and Pamplona, although the last-named place was not long retained. It cannot be said that the Christians took a conscious offensive until the eleventh century. In this period, despite the internal dissension of the Moslem state, the Christian frontier did not pass the Guadarrama Mountains even at the most favorable moments, leaving Aragon and central and southern Spain in the enemy’s hands. The line of the Douro was far from being held consistently,--as witness the conquests of Abd-er-Rahman III and Almansor.

[Sidenote: Alfonso I and Alfonso II.]

[Sidenote: Santiago de Compostela.]

The only notable kings of Asturias in the century following the death of Pelayo (737) were Alfonso I “the Catholic” (739-757) and Alfonso II “the Chaste” (791-842). Both made successful campaigns against the Moslems, although their principal importance was that they brought back many Mozárabes from the temporarily conquered regions, and these helped to populate the north. To assure his power Alfonso II sought an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, and with his son, Louis the Pious. It is this which gave rise to the legend of Bernardo del Carpio, who is said to have compelled the king to forbear making treaties with foreign rulers which lowered the dignity of the Spanish people. Some writers have found in this supposed incident (for the figure of Bernardo is a later invention) an awakening sense of nationalism, but it seems rather to reflect the traditional attitude of the nobility lest the king become too strong for them, for real patriotism did not exist. The two Alfonsos did much to reorganize their kingdom internally, and Alfonso the Chaste moved the capital to Oviedo. In his reign, too, there occurred a religious event of great importance,--the finding of what was believed to be the tomb and body of the apostle Santiago (Saint James) in northwestern Galicia. The site was made the seat of a bishopric, and a village grew up there, named Santiago de Compostela. Compostela became a leading political and industrial factor in the Christian northwest, but was far more important as a holy place of the first grade, ranking with Jerusalem, Rome, and Loreto. Thenceforth, bands of pilgrims not only from Spain but also from all parts of the Christian world came to visit the site, and, through them, important outside influences began to filter into Spain. More noteworthy still was the use of the story of the miraculous discovery to fire the Christian warriors with enthusiasm in their battles against the Moslems, especially at a later period, when the war entered upon more of a crusading phase.

[Sidenote: Beginnings of Navarre and Aragon.]

The people of the mountains of Navarre were of Basque race, and seem to have maintained a more or less unorganized freedom from political subjection for many years before a definite state was formed. They opposed both the Frankish kings and the Moslem emirs, and for a long time the former were their principal enemy. At length they established their independence of both. In these wars the kingdom of Navarre almost certainly had its origin, but at an uncertain date. Tradition makes Iñigo Arista one of the early kings, or chiefs, but the first name definitely to appear is that of Sancho García in the tenth century (905-925). The founding of an independent state in Aragon was due to the same causes; indeed, Aragon and Navarre were assigned a common origin in the legends of the period. Aragon was absorbed by Navarre, however, possibly toward the end of the tenth century.

[Sidenote: Origin of the Catalan counties.]

Catalonia had been overrun by the Moslems when they entered Spain, but between 785 and 811 the Frankish kings were able to reconquer that region, establishing a province there which they called the Spanish Mark. This section was at first ruled by a number of counts, independent of each other, but subject to the kings of the Franks. Catalan submission to the latter did not endure through the ninth century. Wifredo, count of Barcelona, is believed to have established his independence as early as 874, although that event is doubtful; at any rate the separation from the Frankish kingdom was not much longer delayed. Each count was lord unto himself, although the counts of Barcelona were recognized as the greatest among them. Indeed, in the entire breadth of northern Spain each unit labored for its own selfish ends. Christians fought Moslems, but also fought other Christians. Owing to the disorder of the Moslem realm, however, the Catalan counts, like the other Christian rulers, were able to make some territorial gains.

[Sidenote: Two centuries of scant progress in Asturias.]

[Sidenote: The independence of Castile.]

[Sidenote: Sancho the Fat.]

For nearly two centuries after the death of Alfonso II, or until the fall of the Moslem caliphate, very little progress was made by the kings of Oviedo and León, which latter city had become the capital of the Christian kingdom in the northwest early in the tenth century. There was a marked opposition between the Asturian-Leonese and the Galician parts of the realm, and the Galician nobles maintained almost continuous war with the kings. Similarly the counts of the frontier often acted like petty sovereigns, or even joined with the Moslems against their own compatriots. So, too, there were contests for the throne, and neither side hesitated to call in Moslem aid. Some kings achieved conquests of temporary moment against the Moslems; for example, Alfonso III “the Great” (866-909) added considerably to his territories in a period of marked weakness in the caliphate, but was obliged to abdicate when his sons and even his wife joined in rebellion against him; the kingdom was then divided among three sons, who took respectively León, Galicia and Lusitania, and Asturias, leaving to the king the town of Zamora alone. Then followed the caliphate of Abd-er-Rahman III, when the Christian kingdoms, except Galicia, were most of the time subject in fact to the Moslem state, although allowed to govern themselves. To the usual quarrels there was added a new separatist tendency, more serious than that of Galicia had been. This proceeded from the eastern part of the kingdom in a region which came to be called Castile because of the numerous castles there, due to its situation on the Moslem frontier. The counts of Castile, centering around Burgos, had repeatedly declined to obey the kings of Oviedo and León,--for example, when they were called to serve in the royal armies. During the reign of Ramiro II (930-950), Count Fernán González united the Castilians under his standard, and after repeated wars was able to make Castile independent of the king of León. The reign of Sancho “the Fat” is typical of the times. Sancho became king of León in 955, but was soon dethroned by his nobles, who alleged among other things that because of his corpulence he cut a ridiculous figure as a king. Sancho went to the court of Abd-er-Rahman III, and got not only a cure for fatness but also a Moslem army. Aided, too, by the Christian kingdom of Navarre he was able to regain his throne. He had promised to deliver certain cities and castles to the caliph, but did not do so until compelled to by the next caliph, Hakem. Civil wars between the nobles and the crown continued, and many of the former joined with Moslem Almansor in his victorious campaigns against their coreligionists and their king.

[Sidenote: Advance of the Christian states in the early eleventh century.]

[Sidenote: Sancho the Great.]

When the caliphate began to totter, following the deaths of Almansor and Abdul Malik, the Christian kings returned to the conquest. Alfonso V (994-1027) of León and his uncle Sancho “the Great” (970-1035) of Navarre pushed their frontiers southward, Alfonso crossing the Douro in Portugal. The counts of Castile, too, now aiding one Moslem faction, now another, now remaining neutral, profited by each new agreement to acquire additional territory or fortified posts. Shortly after the death of Alfonso V, Sancho the Great intervened successfully in the wars of the Christian kingdoms, and united Castile and León under his authority. Since he was also king in Navarre, Aragon, and the Basque provinces of France and Spain, only Galicia, where the kings of León took refuge, and the counties of Catalonia remained free from his rule in the north. Here seemed to be an important moment in the history of Spain,--one which might have had tremendous consequences. But it was as yet too early, not alone for Spanish nationalism, but even for the conception of a Spanish state. Sancho the Great undid his own work, and consigned himself to a place only a little short of oblivion by dividing his kingdom among his sons. The three most important regions resulting from this act were the kingdoms of Navarre, Castile, and Aragon. The death of Sancho in 1035 is an important date, however, for it marks the time when work had to be begun over again to achieve the distant ideal of the unity of Spain. Meanwhile, the counts of Barcelona, who had lost their territories in the days of Almansor, regained them in the ensuing decline of the caliphate, whether by military conquest, or by intervention in the wars of the Moslem state in return for concessions. The important year 1035 is notable also in Catalonia, for at that time Ramón Berenguer I, the first outstanding figure among the counts of Barcelona, inherited the rule of the county.

[Sidenote: Inter-relations of the Christian and Moslem peoples.]

Except in times of war, relations between the Christian and Moslem peoples were even cordial and intimate. They visited one another’s countries, aided one another in civil wars, engaged in commerce, and even contracted mixed marriages, not only among people of the lower classes, but also among those of the highest rank, even to that of royalty. Mohammedan law did not require the conversion of Christian wives, but many of the latter embraced the Moslem faith, with the consent, too, of their families. Although there were instances of Mohammedan women marrying Christians, the reverse was usually the case, for the conquerors did not bring their families as had the earlier Germanic invaders. Religious differences were not an insuperable barrier in this period: there was scarcely a war confined to Christians on the one side and Mohammedans on the other; the Mozárabes were not greatly molested within the Moslem state; Christians were often employed in administrative capacities by the emirs and caliphs; and Christian mercenaries, many of them Spaniards, fought in the Moslem armies. It was only natural, therefore, that the neighboring Arabic civilization should have exercised not a little influence on Christian Spain, especially since the power and wealth of the caliphate were so much greater than in the kingdoms of the north. In intellectual aspects--for example, in philosophy and science--the Arabic influence was to be greater at a succeeding time, but in political and military matters and in language much passed over to the Christians in this period. In like manner the Spanish peoples reacted upon the invaders, but this was confined principally to the effects produced by the Renegados and Mozárabes, whose contributions were largely due to the conditions of the Moslem world in which they lived.

[Sidenote: Diversity in Christian Spain.]

Christian Spain itself was far from being a unit; rather diversity was the rule. The northwest followed the Visigothic tradition, while the north centre and northeast, especially Navarre and Catalonia, while retaining much of the Visigothic institutions came into frequent contact with French peoples, who gave a new turn to their civilization. Within each section, too, there were many complex differences between one region and another. Hence the institutions of the principal areas may be taken separately.

_Kingdoms of Asturias, León, and Castile_

[Sidenote: Social classes in the Christian northwest.]

Social inequality increased in this period, due to a decline in wealth and to an accentuation of the hazards of life. The higher nobility attained to vast privileges and authority, although less than in other parts of Christian Europe. They were often, but not always, allowed to conquer lands for themselves, rule their own estates with almost absolute authority, leave the king’s service for that of another monarch, and be free from taxation. The social prestige of the nobles was weakened, however, through the king’s right to grant titles of nobility. The king might also deprive a noble created by himself of his titles and lands. Most of the nobility of the lower grades were in fact retainers of the greater nobles or of the king, usually rendering military service in return for protection. This state of dependence was called _encomienda_ (commendation),--a term used centuries later to cover the virtual enslavement of the American Indians. Small landed proprietors and free agricultural and industrial laborers placed themselves in similar relations to the great nobles, so that the latter were about the only really free class of the time. These civilian dependents gave produce, tribute, or personal service to the lord. The various grades of servitude, from serfs attached to a piece of land and enjoying at least some of the products of their labor down to individuals held in personal slavery, continued to exist. In general the servile classes advanced in about the same degree that the freemen fell back; many of them came together to form an intermediate class in which some rights--for example, to own property and to change one’s habitation freely within the same seigniorial territory--were enjoyed.

[Sidenote: The political system.]

The king’s power was complete enough in theory to merit being called absolute, for in him rested supreme legislative, judicial, and administrative authority over the realm as a whole. In fact the royal authority did not extend equally over all the land. On his own properties and usually in conquered regions the king was indeed an absolute monarch, but as concerned the lands of the nobles and the church there were important limitations on his authority. On their estates the nobles enjoyed rights of an economic nature and also those of a sovereign, with almost as much power in theory and in fact as the king had in theory over all the land. They raised troops at will, and fought with one another and even against the king; they had judicial authority over most of the cases arising within their lands; and they collected taxes for themselves. The protection which they owed to all on their estates was not very faithfully accorded, but on the contrary they oppressed not only their own dependents but also those of other lords,--a practice which was a fruitful cause of private war. The nobles, too, were veritable highwaymen, robbing travellers, business men, and pilgrims, and contributing more than any other class to the lawlessness of the times. Bishops and abbots occupied a position similar to that of the great nobles. The church had acquired estates through gifts of individuals and grants of the king, and the same rights and duties attached to them as in the case of the nobles. Thus, for example, great churchmen raised troops, which at times they commanded themselves. The royal power was still further limited in fact, because of the necessity of relying upon nobles or churchmen to govern distant lands or to hold other posts of an administrative and even of a judicial nature. The rulers of administrative districts were the counts (_condes_) appointed by the king, and these individuals often gave him considerable trouble,--as witness the uprisings (at length successful) of the counts of Castile. The very necessities of civil strife obliged the kings to yield privileges to one set of nobles in order to get their aid against another. Nevertheless, great as was the nobles’ authority, it was not so excessive as elsewhere in western Europe. Feudalism, the essence of which was the grant of lands in perpetuity with rights of sovereignty attached, in return for which the grantee owed fealty and some form of service, perhaps military, to the grantor, did not exist in its fullness in northwestern Spain. By special grants the king might agree to refrain from exercising his sovereign privileges, but in such cases certain limitations were usually expressed. When judicial authority was conferred on a noble, some attributes were retained,--for example, the trial of crimes of murder and the right of appeal to the royal authority from the cases in seigniorial courts. Again, when the lords made laws for their territories they did so by special grant of the king, who frequently intervened to change the seigniorial statutes or to enact others of his own. The difference from European feudalism, however, was perhaps more juridical than actual.

[Sidenote: Rise of the free towns.]

One element appeared in this period which was to prove a great limitation on seigniorial authority, and was to be an aid to the king in the establishment of internal good order and unity. This was the plebeian town. The most important type of this class was the _villa_, or _concejo_, which originated in the tenth century. The _villas_ were founded on lands conquered by the kings, and were usually in frontier districts exposed to the enemy. On this account special privileges were granted in order to induce people to settle there. Anybody who could contrive to reach a _villa_ was declared free, even if of servile grade before. All citizens were not equal, however; there were varying grades of rank, though all were free. The _villas_ were exempted from many duties to the state,--often from the payment of taxes. They were also withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the counts, and were granted much political authority. Each _villa_ received its own _fuero_, or charter, by a special grant, with the result that there was a great variety in the terms of different charters, although certain of them tended to become the types which were imitated in subsequent grants. As a general rule the government of a _villa_ was in the hands of the assembly of citizens, in which local laws were enacted and judges and administrative officers elected. These rights, added to a long line of exemptions, made veritable political entities of the _villas_, which were independent of all but the king, and were in great measure not subject to him. The _villa_ extended beyond its own walls to include neighboring rural districts as well. The rise of the _villas_ on royal lands compelled the nobility and the clergy to form similar settlements in order to attract people to their territories or to avoid uprisings of their dependents, although these towns did not achieve rights equal to those of the _villas_.

[Sidenote: Diversity and primitive character of the law.]

Since privilege was the general rule, the law in northwestern Spain was very far from being uniform. The Visigothic _Fuero Juzgo_ continued to be the general law, but it was often supplanted as a result of grants by the king to nobles, clergy, and _villas_, and by the nobles and clergy to yet other units under their rule. Very important, too, was the modifying effect of local customs, which in the absence of other specific law were frequently cited. These customs tended to resemble those of the Germanic invaders or even of the indigenous peoples, since the type of life at this time was similar to that of earlier unsettled periods. This era, therefore, was one of a marked falling away from Roman traditions, which had to wait several centuries before they again came into their own.

[Sidenote: Economic backwardness.]

As was natural in such an age of disorder, commerce and industry did not flourish. With the rise of the towns a beginning was made, and at least one town, Santiago de Compostela, seems to have attained to some industrial importance. Commerce was hampered by innumerable obstacles, such as the depredations of foreign enemies and robber lords, the duties which had to be paid to the king, and the tolls which were collected by the lords at highways, rivers, or bridges within their lands. Stock-raising and agriculture and the production of the bare necessities of life were the principal occupations. Even these suffered, not only from the raids of the Moslems and the nobles, but also from the extreme weight of taxation, which was all the worse in that it was levied at the caprice of the king, lord, or churchman collecting it. The state of misery was so great that it is not surprising that famine and epidemics harassed the people.

[Sidenote: Ignorance and superstition.]

[Sidenote: Innovations in architecture.]

In general culture, too, there was a decline to an even lower level than that of the Visigothic period. Churches and monasteries maintained something of the old intellectual traditions, and their schools were almost the only resort for an education. Latin continued to be used in literature and in official documents, but was already acquiring the new forms which were to pave the way to the various Romance tongues of later days. The age was one of superstition, which made itself manifest, as in other parts of Europe, even in judicial procedure. The tests of wager of battle (or a duel between litigants), the hot iron, and boiling water were all used to determine innocence or guilt, in the belief that God would intervene on the side of the man whose cause was just. Poverty and danger led men to live in groups, thereby introducing a fresh departure from Roman individualism. In the towns life more nearly resembled the Roman type. In architecture this period marked the introduction of the buttress in some of the churches. Naturally, it was an age of the building of castles and walls, although the materials used were perishable. Most edifices were of wood, for in that day Spain was covered with forests in regions where they no longer exist. The burning of villages in times of war, especially during the Norman invasions, led to an exchange from the wooden roof in church building to one of non-combustible material of industrial manufacture.

_Kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia_

[Sidenote: The Christian reconquest of Catalonia.]

In essentials, the social organization of north central and northeastern Spain was not greatly different from that of the northwest. Navarre and Catalonia were considerably affected by French influence,--Aragon less so. The details for Navarre and Aragon are in any event obscure or lacking. The Moslem invasion caused an emigration of the people of Catalonia across the Pyrenees, with the result that most of the territory remained deserted for two centuries. By 797 Gerona had been reconquered, and by 801 Barcelona was retaken, and these dates marked the beginning of the social and political reorganization of what was to become Catalonia. Lands were allotted to the Frankish conquerors and to a number of Catalans who had either remained in that region, subject to the Moslems, or who came in at the time of the reconquest. These estates were given free of obligation, except for that of military service. The most important holders were the various counts, but there were a number of lesser proprietors beyond their jurisdiction. Many of these were converted in course of time into feudatories of the counts. The counts were at first the appointees of the French king; later they became hereditary; and finally independent. The church also acquired vast territories in Catalonia, and was allowed to enjoy immunity from obligations and an absolute dominion over its lands. The most important holdings were those of the bishop of Gerona.

[Sidenote: Feudalism in Catalonia and Navarre.]

From the above it appears that the feudalism of France had taken root in Catalonia, where the nobles were more absolute in their own territories and more free from the power of the king or lord to whom they were subject than was the case in northwestern Spain. The greater importance of the counts of Barcelona has already been alluded to; by the beginning of the eleventh century they were saluted with the title of prince in recognition of their sovereignty. Aside from their own estates, however, their legal authority extended little further than that of a right to inspect judicial tribunals (in order to see that their decisions were in accord with the general law of the land) and to have certain cases appealable to their courts. The _Fuero Juzgo_, in so far as it applied to the changed conditions of Catalonia, was the general law, but numerous exceptions began to appear, much as in the northwest, although the development of free towns was not nearly so great. In Navarre the administration of justice belonged to the king, but on the other hand the king could not hold court, or make war, peace, or a truce, without consulting the nobles, and he was subject in every respect to the laws which confirmed their privileges. Furthermore, he acquired his throne by election, although the choice was confined as a rule to members of a single family. Feudalism not only weakened the power of the monarchy in north central and northeastern Spain, but also tended to impair the lot of the servile classes, which were delayed in achieving emancipation in these regions much longer than in other parts of Spain.

[Sidenote: Coming of the monks of Cluny.]

[Sidenote: Backwardness of Pyrenean Spain.]

The most important religious incident of the period was the entry of the monks of Cluny into Spain. This order had taken it upon itself to combat simony (the sale of church office) and offences against the ecclesiastical law of celibacy (requiring that men who had taken holy orders should not marry), both of which practices were than very prevalent in Christendom, and to bring about a complete and effective submission of distant churches to the bishop of Rome. These monks came into Spain by way of Navarre in the reign of Sancho the Great, and by 1033 they were already in Castile. Aside from their immediate objects they produced two other important effects: they reinforced the French ideas which had preceded them; and they accelerated the reconquest as a result of the influence which they acquired, employing it to urge on the kings in wars against the Moslems. In economic institutions, general culture, and the fine arts the north centre and northeast were very backward, like the northwest. It is noteworthy, however, that by the ninth century the Catalans were already beginning to engage in trade in the Mediterranean.

DEVELOPMENT TOWARD NATIONAL UNITY, 910-1492