Christianity and Islam in Spain | Page 8

if not over his character, and the Prophet,
foregoing the peaceful and more glorious mission of a Heaven-sent
messenger, appealed to the human arbitrament of the sword: not with
any very marked success, however, the victory of Bedr in 624 being
counterbalanced by the defeat of Ohud in in the following year. In 631,
Arabia being mostly pacified, the first expedition beyond its boundaries
was undertaken under Mohammed's own leadership, but this abortive
attempt gave no indications of the astonishing successes to be achieved
in the near future. Mohammed himself died in the following year, yet,
in spite of this and the consequent revolt of almost all Arabia, within

two years Syria was overrun and Damascus taken. Persia, which had
contended for centuries on equal terms with Rome, was overthrown in
a single campaign. In 637 Jerusalem fell, and the sacred soil of
Palestine passed under the yoke of the Saracens. Within three years
Alexandria and the rich valley of the Nile were the prize of Amru and
his army. The conquest of Egypt only formed the stepping-stone to the
reduction of Africa, and the victorious Moslems did not pause in their
career until they reached the Atlantic Ocean, and Akbah,[3] riding his
horse into the sea, sighed for more worlds to conquer. We may be
excused perhaps for thinking that it had been well for the inhabitants of
the New World, if Fortune had delivered them into the hands of the
generous Arabs rather than to the cruel soldiery of Cortes and Pizarro.
[1] Al Makk., ii. 34. "What are thirty barbarians perched upon a rock?
They must inevitably die."
[2] Carlyle's "Hero Worship" ad finem.
[3] Cardonne, i. p. 37; Gibbon, vi. 348, note.
In 688, that is, in a little more than a generation from the death of
Mohammed, the Moslems undertook the siege of Constantinople.
Fortunately for the cause of civilisation and of Christendom, this long
siege of several years proved unsuccessful, as well as a second attack in
717. But by the latter date the footing in Europe, which the valour of
the Byzantines denied them, had already been gained by the expedition
into Spain under Tarik in 711. The same year that witnessed the
crossing of the Straits of Gibraltar in the West saw also in the East the
passage of the Oxus by the eager warriors of Islam.
There seems to be some ground for supposing that the Saracens had
attacked Spain even before the time of Tarik. As early as 648, or only
one year after the invasion of Africa, an expedition is said to have been
made into that country under Abdullah ibn Sa'd,[1] which resulted in
the temporary subjugation of the southern provinces. A second inroad
is mentioned by Abulfeda[2] as having taken place in Othman's reign
(644-656); while for an incursion in the reign of Wamba (671-680) we
have the authority of the Spanish historians, Isidore of Beja and

Sebastian of Salamanca, the former of whom adds the fact that the
Saracens were invited in by Erviga, who afterwards succeeded Wamba
on the throne--a story which seems likely enough when read in the light
of the subsequent treason of Julian. These earlier attacks, however,
seem to have been mere raids, undertaken without an immediate view
to permanent conquest.
By way of retaliation, or with a commendable foresight, the Goths sent
help to Carthage when besieged by the Arabs in 695; and, while Julian
their general still remained true to his allegiance, they beat off the
Saracens from Ceuta. But on the surrender of that fortress the Arabs
were enabled to send across the Straits a small reconnoitring
detachment of five hundred men under Tarif abu Zarah,[3] a Berber.
This took place in October 710; but the actual invasion did not occur
till April 30, 711, when 12,000 men landed under Tarik ibn Zeyad.
There seems to have been a preliminary engagement before the
decisive one of Gaudalete (July 19th-26th)--the Gothic general in the
former being stated variously to have been Theodomir,[4] Sancho,[5]
or Edeco.[6]
[1] See De Gayangos' note on Al Makkari, i. p. 382.
[2] "Annales Moslemici," i. p. 262.
[3] The names of Tarif ibn Malik abu Zarah and Tarik ibn Zeyad have
been confused by all the careless writers on Spanish history--_e.g._
Conde, Dunham, Yonge, Southey, etc.; but Gibbon, Freeman, etc., of
course do not fall into this error. For Tarif's names see De Gayangos,
Al Makk., i. pp. 517, 519; and for Tarik's see "Ibn Abd el Hakem,"
Jones' translation, note 10.
[4] Al Makk., i. 268; Isidore: Conde, i. 55.
[5] Cardonne, i. 75.
[6] Dr Dunham.
It will not be necessary to pursue the history of the conquest in detail. It

is enough to say that in three years almost all Spain and part of
Southern