The Moors of Spain

Dissension, discord and rebellion wrecked the Kingdom of Grenada, "the last stronghold of the Moors." A nine months' continuous siege by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain brought about the surrender of Granada. The "Terms of Capitulation" were arranged by the great Christian Knight and soldier, Gonzalvo de Cordova. These provided that the vanquished Moors should be governed by their own laws, preserve their own customs, and possess liberty of worship; that they should hold their property in Spain free from molestation, or be allowed to sell it; that as many as desired to leave the country within three years were to be furnished free transportation. But within seventy days the Alhambra, its walls, towers, gates and all enclosed by them, and the city of Granada, was to be surrendered by Boabdil, last King of the Moors, to Ferdinand and Isabella, January 2d, 1492. The fatal day arrived, which has had few, if any, parallels in history; the day so eloquently described by Washington Irving in his "Conquest of Granada," and so pathetically sung in the Moorish Ballads, collected by Lockhart. Had the story of the Moors in Spain ended here, and the pledges of Ferdinand and Isabella been faithfully carried cut, the tribunal of the Christian world would not to-day be sitting in judgment upon the Spanish nation, saying, "For your iniquities the land is left unto you desolate." Bitter fanaticism and blinded bigotry followed in the wake of Spain's long, fierce struggle with the Moslems. The Inquisition sprang into existence, directed first against "the infidels," and then against so-called "heresy." Moriscoes (Moors who had intermarried with the Christians or adopted the Christian forms of religion), Jews, and halting Christians, were brought before its terrible tribunal.

By the terms of capitulation, drawn up by Gonzalvo, the Moors who choose to remain in the country after the Christian conquest were to be protected in all their civil and religious rights. But if they preferred to leave Spain they could carry the value of their property with them, and be transported free to any other land. For King Boabdil, his numerous family and the Moorish Court, there were special and separate terms of capitulation. The King was granted an estate in the mountains of the Alpujarras, which was to be his and his heirs forever. Then from the beautiful palace of the Alhambra, from the lovely gardens of the Generallife, from the City of his Kingdom, across the lovely Wega, attended by a few horsemen, and followed by his mother, his wives, and his children, the unhappy King Boabdil passed to his barren mountain home. The hill, a spur of the Alpujarras, now called "The last sigh of the Moors," is within sight of Granada, where, turning for a last look. He sang his famous lament: "Farewell, farewell, Granada, thou city without peer." (See "Spanish Ballads," Lockhart.) But like all Treaties of Peace made under protest, rebellions arose. Torquemada. Spain's Inquisitor, taught that "to keep faith with infidels was to break faith with God." Baptism or banishment was soon the alternative offered to the Moors of Spain. The day of doom came, and thousands prepared to leave their homes rather than deny Mohammed. Those who accepted baptism were henceforth to be called "Moriscoes," to adopt the Spanish dress, to speak Spanish, and "to walk Spanish." But as the age of intolerance and bigotry advanced, slavery or exile was the alternative offered to these Moriscoes. Within one hundred and twenty-five years after the fall of Granada (1492-1610), it is stated that not less than three million Moors were banished from Spain, to beg a daily pittance or to till the soil of foreign lands. Boabdil received gold for his estate in the mountains and free transportation to Morocco. With a small following, he embarked in the same vessels that had been used by Columbus on his second voyage to the "new World," and he died at Fez, in Morocco, fighting for a foreign cause. The Moors were banished, but Spain had killed her "Golden Goose." The grief of the exiled Moors is still pathetic, as we may see them in Tangiers, and, with the exception of that of the Jews, there is not a sadder history on record. Spain is still to the Arab Moors a "Paradise Lost." One distinguished Arabian Moor, living not many miles from Tunis, Claims to possess the key of his ancestral home in Granada. And among the degenerate Moors of Morocco to-day, when one is seen sitting pensive or alone, his companions whisper among themselves: "He is thinking of Granada."