Another most important object, although less ancient than the former one, is an Arabian banner which is traditionally believed to have been taken from the Almohades at the battle of Las Navas, A.D. 1212. This banner, which is preserved at the monastery of Las Huelgas of Burgos, is ten feet high by seven feet three inches wide. It is made of a crimson stuff, covered with an ornamentation woven and embroidered in gold and colours. In the centre is a large circle, placed within a square, which is enlarged in parallel bands. The four largest bands, which are also the last, are covered with inscriptions in blue African characters. The upper part of this banner is prolonged with several bands, one of which has inscriptions of a similar kind to those already mentioned; other borders contain several sentences in small African letters. The lower part is also prolonged and is terminated by eight points cut in a semicircle, inside which there are discs with illegible inscriptions. Three violet coloured lions, similar in form to those which appear on the arms of Leon, may be seen on three of the sides of the square. In the large circle in the centre of this banner, appears eight times repeated the word "The Empire," [Illustration: Arabic]. This inscription is embroidered or woven in Cufic characters, in a similar style to those at the Alhambra; it is a strange circumstance that the letters appear on the wrong side, as if this was the back of the stuff; the word which seems to be required to complete this sentence, "God," is also wanting. The large inscriptions in blue of the five bands reproduce Suras of the Koran, and pious sentences in one of the small ones on the upper part. S^{r.} Fernandez, who has published an article on this banner in Mus. Esp. [vol. vi., p. 469], thinks he finds a date which corresponds with the year A.D. 1140. I am not, however, satisfied with his interpretation of the inscription contained in the large centre circle, or the date he gives; for comparing the ornamentation of this specimen with other textiles, and the designs used in Moorish architecture, it appears to me that it must be considered as belonging to the 14th century. This may be easily accounted for by some historical mistake in the tradition respecting it at the convent of Las Huelgas. It is highly probable that King Alfonso XI. may have given this banner to the convent, and have been mistaken for King Alfonso VIII.; the conqueror of the battle of Las Navas. The specimens of Spanish moresco stuffs in the Kensington Museum, will be found numbered 51, 121, 124, 125, 152, 160, 180, 241, 244. (V. Dr. Rock's Catalogue.)