Yusuf, the new Sultan of the Almohades, distrusting the loyalty of his subjects, and apprehensive of a disputed succession, had no sooner ascended the throne than he disbanded the great army collected by his father for the subjection of the Peninsula. A well-balanced and discriminating mind, an excellent education acquired under the direction of the most learned doctors of the age, unusual proficiency in the martial exercises practised with such assiduity by the Mauritanian youth, considerable experience in the arts of policy and in the conduct of campaigns, admirably fitted Yusuf for the cares of government. The summary measures adopted by his father to maintain public security, and his own well-established reputation for ability and resolution, preserved his accession from the dangers of revolt. A few insignificant demonstrations by the restless tribes of the Atlas, which were speedily and mercilessly repressed, disturbed the first few months of his reign. But no pretender rose to dispute his claims to sovereignty; no prophet ventured to arouse the credulous and fanatical swarms of the Desert; no concerted movement of discontented chieftains threatened the permanence of a monarchy which had been founded on revolution, and whose history had been marked by incessant turmoil and sedition. Satisfied with the peaceful condition of his African possessions, Yusuf, having sent to Spain twenty thousand of his choicest troops, after a short delay followed them, and, assuming the supreme command, established his residence at Seville. The discord existing between the petty rulers of the Moslem states, whose enmity was the more decided in proportion to their incapacity to indulge it, operated in the most signal manner to the advantage of his cause. Ibn-Saad, lord of Eastern Spain, whose kingdom included the cities of Murcia, Valencia, Alicante, Xativa, Denia, Lorca, many flourishing villages, and the most fertile portion of the Peninsula, was killed in an expedition to Minorca, and his sons, unable to defend their rich inheritance against both the Aragonese and the Almohades at once, entered into negotiations with Yusuf for the exchange of their territories for others less valuable, perhaps, but more secure, on the shores of Northern Africa. The bargain was soon concluded. The Murcian princes, eager to dispose of what they must otherwise inevitably lose, embarked for their new dominions; the daughter of Ibn-Saad, a pledge of the contract, became the wife of Yusuf, and the most valuable district in Spain--when the productiveness of the soil, the wealth and commercial advantages of the cities, and the density and industrious character of the population are considered--passed, without the hazards of a campaign or the loss of a single drop of blood, under the control of the Sultan of the Almohades.