History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)Scott, S. P. (Samuel Parsons)
Islamic
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Scott, S. P. (Samuel Parsons)
Arabs -- Europe -- History; Islamic civilization; Muslims -- Spain -- History; Spain -- History -- 711-1516
of religious rites, were granted to the Toledans; and they were also
permitted to retain the services of their own magistrates and to be
subject to the operation of their own laws. The tribute to the new
sovereign was fixed at the same amount which had been payable to the
old in accordance with the legal tax of the Mussulman code. The grand
mosque was to be forever inviolate and solely devoted to the worship
of Islam. The fortifications, the public works, the royal palace and
gardens, were to become the property of the Castilian crown. A private
article closely affecting the political fortunes of the King of Toledo
was one of the important provisions of the treaty. It stipulated that
the latter was, as soon as practicable, to be placed on the throne of
Valencia, even if the entire power of the Christian monarchy should
be required to carry it into effect. The last hours of Kadir in his
lost capital were passed in consultation with astrologers to determine
the most auspicious moment for his departure. His ludicrous distress
aroused the ridicule and amazement of all who beheld him as, carrying
an astrolabe, he rode slowly out of the gate at the head of his escort.
Great numbers of Moslems in a short time abandoned their homes on
account of the open and unrebuked violation of the compact which had
conferred upon them the exercise of their religion and the enjoyment of
their ancient privileges.
As soon as the treaty was signed, the King of Castile entered the city,
followed by an imposing train of ecclesiastics and cavaliers. All the
pomp of the Christian hierarchy, all the barbaric luxury of the Spanish
nobles, were displayed on this occasion of triumph, an occasion which
portended the speedy overthrow of the Moorish sovereignty in the North.
The prelates, attired in their official vestments, bore aloft the
crosses and the sacred vessels once the property of the Gothic clergy
of imperial Toledo. These, rescued from the polluting grasp of the
Saracen and preserved for nearly four hundred years in the inaccessible
depths of the Asturias, were now to be restored to their altars, a
convincing proof of the truth of the gospel and of the justice and
power of the Christian God. Behind the ecclesiastical dignitaries
came the nobles, many of them descendants of families that had once
inhabited the palaces of the Visigothic capital,--the ancestors of the
most illustrious houses of the Spanish monarchy. The rear was closed by
the ladies of the court, guarded by a detachment of the Castilian army.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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