This statement is probably exaggerated; but it is certainly true, that the Moors, who had thus penetrated into the midst of France, were relentlessly pursued after their defeat, and were many of them unable to escape from the army of the victors and the vengeance of the people.

This memorable battle, of which we possess no details, saved France from the yoke of the Arabs, and effectually arrested their spreading dominion.

Once again, subsequent to this reverse, the Moors attempted to penetrate into France, and {43} succeeded in seizing upon Avignon; but Charles Martel defeated them anew, retook the captured city, drove them from Narbonne, and deprived them forever of the hope with which they had so often flattered themselves.

After the death of Abderamus, Spain was torn by dissensions between the two governors[14] named successively by the Caliph. A third pretender arrived from Africa. A fourth added himself to the list;[15] factions multiplied; the different parties often had recourse to arms; chiefs were assassinated, cities taken, and provinces ravaged.

The details of these events are variously related by different historians, but possess little interest in the narrations of any.

These civil wars lasted nearly twenty years. The Christians, who had retired into Asturia, profited by them to the utmost. Alphonso I., the son-in-law and successor of Pelagius, imitated the career of that hero. He seized upon a part of Galicia and Leon, repulsed the Mussulman troops who were sent to oppose him, and rendered himself master of several towns.

The Moors, occupied by their domestic {44} quarrels, neglected to arrest the progress of Alphonso, and from that time the growth of a miniature kingdom commenced, whose interests were inimical to those of the Saracens in Spain.

After many crimes and combats, a certain Joseph had succeeded in triumphing over his different rivals, and was at last reigning supreme in Cordova, when there occurred a memorable event in the East, which was destined greatly to affect the condition of Spain.

From that period, A.D. 749, Heg. 134, commences the second epoch of the empire of the Moors of Spain, which makes it necessary to revert briefly to the history of the Eastern caliphs.

[1] The Sabaei, according to the best ancient authorities, were the inhabitants of the extensive Arabian kingdom of Saba.—Translator.

[2] The term Moors, according to Bochart, comes from a Hebrew word, Mahuran, which signifies Western.

[3] It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that these Children of the Desert are supposed to be the lineal descendants of Ishmael, the wandering, outcast son of the patriarch Abraham and the much-abused Hagar.—Translator.

[4] The primitive name of the Arabs, from Nabathaea, an appellation for their country which is probably derived from Nabath, the son of Ishmael. The capital city of Nabathaea was that Petra, of whose present appearance and condition our eminent countryman, Stephens, has given his readers so graphic a sketch in his "Travels," &c.—Translator.

[5] A.D. 569.

[6] The Coheshirites, the guardians of the Temple of the Caaba at Mecca.

[7] See Note A, page 203.

[8] See Note B, page 206.

[9] See note C, page 207.

[10] See note D, page 208.

[11] See Note E, page 308.

[12] Ambeza, Azra, Jahiah, Osman, Hazifa, Hacchem, and Mohammed.

[13] It was in this battle that Charles acquired the title of Martel, or the Hammer.

[14] Abdoulmelek and Akbe.

[15] Aboulattar and Tevaba.

{45}

SECOND EPOCH.

THE KINGS OF CORDOVA BECOME THE CALIPHS OF THE WEST.

Extending from the middle of the Eighth to the commencement of the Eleventh Century.

We have seen that, under their first three caliphs, Abubeker, Omar, and Othman, the Arabian conquerors of Syria, Persia, and Africa preserved their ancient manners, their simplicity of character, their obedience to the successors of the Prophet, and their contempt for luxury and wealth: but what people could continue to withstand the influence of such an accumulation of prosperity? These resistless conquerors turned their weapons against each other: they forgot the virtues which had rendered them invincible, and assisted by their dissensions in dismembering the empire that their valour had created.

The disastrous effects of the baneful spirit that had thus insidiously supplanted the original principles of union, moderation, and prudence, by which, as a nation, the Moslems had been {46} actuated, were first manifested in the assassination of the Caliph Othman.

Ali, the friend, companion, and adopted son of the Prophet, whose courage, achievements, and relationship to Mohammed, as the husband of his only daughter, had rendered him so dear to the Mussulmans, was announced as the successor of Othman.

But Moavias, the governor of Syria, refused to recognise the authority of Ali, and, under the guidance of the sagacious Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, caused himself to be proclaimed Caliph of Damascus. Upon this, the Arabians divided: those of Medina sustaining Ali, and those of Syria Moavias. The first took the name of Alides, the others styled themselves Ommiades, deriving their denomination from the grandfather of Moavias. Such was the origin of the famous schism which still separates the Turks and Persians.

Though Ali succeeded in vanquishing Moavias in the field, he did not avail himself judiciously of the advantage afforded him by his victory. He was soon after assassinated,[1] and the spirit and courage of his party vanished with the {47} occurrence of that event. The sons of Ali made efforts to reanimate the ardour of his partisans, but in vain.

Thus, in the midst of broils, revolts, and civil wars, the Ommiades still remained in possession of the Caliphate of Damascus.[2] It was during the reign of one of these princes, Valid the First, that the Arabian conquests extended in the East to the banks of the Ganges, and in the West to the shores of the Atlantic. The Ommiades, however, were for the most part feeble, but they were sustained by able commanders, and the {48} ancient valour of the Moslem soldiers was not yet degenerated.

After the Ommiades had maintained their empire for the space of ninety-three years, Mervan II.,[3] the last caliph of the race, was deprived of his throne and his life[4] through the instrumentality of Abdalla, a chief of the tribe of the Abbassides, who were, like the Ommiades, near relatives of Mohammed.

Aboul-Abbas, the nephew of Abdalla, supplanted the former caliph. With him commenced the dynasty of the Abbassides, so celebrated in the East for their love of science and their connexion with the names of Haroun Al Raschid, Almamon, and the Bermasides.[5]

The Abbassides retained the caliphate during five successive centuries.[6] At the termination of {49} that period, they were despoiled of their power by the Tartar posterity of Gengis Khan, after {50} having witnessed the establishment of a race of Egyptian caliphs named Fatimites, the pretended descendants of Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.

Thus was the Eastern empire of the Arabs eventually destroyed: the descendants of Ishmael returned to the country from which they had originally sprung, and gradually reverted to nearly