The Temporal Power of the Papacy
He also laid the foundations of their temporal power. This was not so much sought by him as forced upon him by circumstances. His appeals for help against the Lombards were disregarded both by the exarch of Ravenna and by the emperor. He saw then that he must either take to himself regal power or suffer the oppression of the Lombards. He chose the former, and boldly took the reins of government into his own hands. He carried on the war against the Lombards, he gave orders to generals, he appointed governors, and did not hesitate to declare that his rank was higher than that of the exarch, even although the latter was the representative of the emperor. Finally he made peace on his own account with one of the Lombard chiefs.
This roused the Emperor Maurice to wrath, and he called Gregory in so many words a disloyal, presumptuous fool. He could, or would, do nothing himself to relieve his distressed province, but neither would he recognize the act of another which seemed to usurp his imperial authority, and he refused to ratify the peace. Only after years had passed could he be brought to own that the Lombards had come to stay, and see the impossibility of ousting them without strong measures. For strong measures he was not prepared, and at length a general peace was signed.
Peace brought added work to Gregory both in Church and State. For now that his messengers could travel safely through Italy he made rebellious or lax clergy feel his authority, rousing them to zeal or bringing them back to obedience. He settled disputes over boundaries, and arbitrated in many ways between Lombards and Romans. Now, too, he carried out his long cherished plan and sent St. Augustine to convert the heathen Angles of England.
Gregory's days and nights were full, his manifold labours leaving him scant rest. Yet all this work in Church and state, at home and abroad, was carried on by a man in constant pain, so ill indeed that for weeks at a time he could not leave his bed. "I live in such misery and pain," he writes, "that I grieve to see the light of returning day. My only comfort is in the hope of death." Or again, "I die daily, yet never die."
Before many years had passed his labours for peace seemed to be brought to naught by the folly of the exarch. War broke out again and ended in further triumphs for the Lombards. Yet from this time dates a more settled state in the affairs of Italy. The peace was often disturbed, often broken, but on the whole it was maintained, or renewed, from year to year. Still, for nearly two hundred years this obscure and savage Teuton race held sway over the fair lands of Italy which to-day still bear the name of Lombardy.
Meanwhile the great prelate drew near his end. A moment of peace had come to his beloved land when peace came to him too, and death set him free from his labours and his pains. He was not as men count years an aged man, but he was worn out by his great labours and great suffering. He left his mark not only on his own times but on times to come. For he had advanced the Roman see to a far higher position than it had ever before attained, and for good or ill had laid the foundations of the temporal power of the popes.
CHAPTER VI
The Rise of Mohammedanism
ABOUT four or five years after the death of Justinian the Great a little boy was born in Mecca, and was given the name of Mohammed, or the Praised. This Arab belonged to a princely tribe who traced their descent to Ishmael. They had in their keeping the Kaabah or sacred temple of the Arabs. Kaabah means a cube, and the name was given to the temple because of its shape, which was square. It had only one window and one door, and until the time of Mohammed it was roofed only by a great black carpet which hung down on all sides.
This temple was said to have been first built by Adam from a plan sent down from heaven. But it had been restored several times, by Seth, by Abraham, and last by Ishmael. Since that time the tribe to which Mohammed belonged had had it in their keeping. It enshrined a great treasure, for in the north-west corner of the wall there was set a black stone which was said to have been brought from paradise. Then it was white, but it had since turned black through the many kisses bestowed upon it by sinful although devout lips.
In spite of this legend, which seems to connect them with the Jews, the Arabs were idolaters, and within the Kaabah there were gathered three hundred and sixty idols in the shapes of men and beasts. Every year vast numbers of pilgrims came from all parts of Arabia to do homage to them and, above all, to the sacred black stone. The possession of this stone made the Kaabah the most venerated temple in all Arabia, indeed, because of it the whole district round Mecca was considered holy, and it was forbidden to kill anything there save animals for sacrifice.
It was therefore in a city already held sacred that Mohammed was born. He caused it to be held still more sacred, and made the name of Mecca famous throughout the whole world.
Mohammed's father died before he was born, and his mother and grandfather not many years later. He had many uncles, and as they claimed much of his father's fortune there was little left for Mohammed. So he began life with no more wealth than five camels and a slave girl. But he was fortunate and prospered well. He was a splendid-looking man, broad of shoulder, lithe of limb, with great black eyes shining in his clear brown face. He seemed born to lead and bend others to his will. Yet he was forty years old before he began the career which made him famous.
At this time many people in Arabia were dissatisfied with the worship of idols, and were seeking after a better religion. Some of Mohammed's friends were among these. He used to talk much with them, and also with the many Jews and Christians who had settled in the land, and from them he learned something both of the Jewish and of the Christian faiths.
Mohammed pondered over these things, and at length he announced that he had seen a vision, and received a revelation from heaven. One day, he said, when he was in a lonely spot an angel appeared to him with a written scroll in his hand, and said to him, "Read."
Now Mohammed could neither read nor write, and in great fear he replied, "I cannot read." Thereupon the angel shook him wrathfully, and again commanded him to read. Again Mohammed, in great fear and trembling, replied, "I cannot read."
Three times this was repeated. Then the angel himself took the scroll and read it to Mohammed, and the words which he heard were so graven upon his heart that he remembered them ever after, and later, when his holy book was made, they became part of it.
Other visions and revelations followed this first one, and at length Mohammed announced his message to the world. It was very simple. It was merely, "There is but one God and Mohammed is his prophet."
Thus a new religion was founded which was, in time, to enslave half the world. But at first few listened to Mohammed. Indeed, for some years he made scarcely any converts save the women of his own household. But by degrees, slowly at first, and then more rapidly, his followers increased.
And as Mohammed's followers increased, visions and revelations increased also. For when anything required to be added to the creed, or when any action of the Prophet seemed to need supernatural support, Mohammed had a revelation. What he learned in these Mohammed dictated to his scribes, who wrote it down on palm leaves, blade bones of animals, bits of parchment, or anything which came to hand. It was not until after the Prophet's death, however, that they were all gathered together into the Koran, or Book of God of the Mohammedans.
The Hegira
In time Mohammed had adherents all over Arabia. Only the men of his own tribe were filled with wrath against him. For, said they, if this pestilent fellow preached that there was only one God what was to become of the Kaabah and its many idols. If the idols fell into disrepute the keepers of the temple would be ruined. The thousands of pilgrims who flocked every year to the Kaabah would come no more. All the trade which came in their train, which made not only the keepers of the temple but Mecca rich and powerful, would be lost. They decided, therefore, that his mouth must be stopped, and a persecution began which ended in Mohammed fleeing with his followers to Medina. This is called the Hegira, or Flight, and from it the beginning of the Mohammedan era dates.
; It was soon after the Hegira that Mohammed began to preach his holy war. He had taken a great deal of his new religion from Judaism and from Christianity. But unlike these religions, which either did not try to make converts, or tried to make them peacefully, Mohammed now determined to convert the world with the sword if need be.
So Mohammed unsheathed his sword, and in less than eight years' time he who had fled from Mecca in secrecy and darkness returned in triumph. He entered the Kaabah, and ordered it to be cleared of idols. And as one by one they fell beneath the blows of his followers, he cried in exultation, "Truth hath come. Falsehood hath gone; for falsehood vanisheth away."
But although cleared of idols the Kaabah still remained the holy of holies to the followers of Mohammed, and Mecca is still the holy city towards which every Mohammedan turns when he prays. For Mohammed quickly saw that unless he preserved the sacred character of Mecca he could never win his fellow-countrymen to his creed. During countless ages they had worshipped at Mecca, and reverence for it was bred in them. So Mohammed kept Mecca as his holy city. And when the Arabs found that they might confess the new creed, and still worship in the Kaabah, thousands became easy converts.
Thus he who had begun life with no fortune save five camels and a slave girl made himself master of an empire. Mohammed found Arabia a mass of hostile tribes, each with its own laws, and perpetually at war with every other tribe round. He found it given over to idolatry. In twenty years he united the warring tribes and made them monotheistic. In twenty years he created a nation with a national religion and national laws.
But Mohammed's ambition was not bounded by Arabia. He determined to force his religion on people beyond its borders and, even before Mecca had submitted to him, he had caused letters to be written to the greatest potentates of the world, to the Byzantine emperor, to the king of Persia, and to the rulers of many lesser states. These letters he sealed with a great seal, engraven with the words, "Mohammed, the Apostle of God." In haughty words he bade these proud potentates put away their old idolatrous religions, and do homage to the one true God.
But as yet the name of Mohammed was hardly known beyond the borders of Arabia, and his haughty missives awoke no thrill of fear in the breasts of the august princes to whom they were addressed. Some of the lesser rulers answered courteously enough, but the greatest among them, the Emperor Heraclius, flung the letter contemptuously by, while Chosroes, the king of Persia, tore his to atoms in fury, and commanded that the insolent Arab be brought to him in chains. When Mohammed heard what reception his letter had received he, too, was wrathful. He cursed the arrogant king. "Even as he has rent Thy message, O Lord," he cried, "wilt Thou rend his kingdom from him."
Indeed, the time was not far distant when both king and emperor were to tremble at the name of the upstart Arab. But Mohammed himself did not live to see that time, for two years after his triumphant return to Mecca he died. It seemed for a time as if his work had died with him. But it was not so, for he had breathed the spirit of his enthusiasm into others, and he was succeeded by his faithful friend and father-in-law Abu Bekr. He was the first caliph, caliph meaning merely successor.
CHAPTER VII
The Conquest of Spain by the Arabs
The Conquests of Abu Bekr
ABU BEKR was filled with as great a zeal for the faith as had been Mohammed, and with an even greater lust for gold and power. So the triumphant march of the Moslems, or Saracens as they came to be called, through the world began. With sword in one hand and Book of God in the other they set out to conquer and convert the whole world. To all prisoners of war they offered but one choice—death or the Koran.
Thus a new terror was born into the world, a new danger made all Europe tremble, and for many ages the cry of Allah, Allah! was to blanche the cheek and wake fear in the hearts of all who heard it.
The Moslem soldiers were as fearless as they were feared. Death to them had no terrors. It was but the gateway into a new and glorious life; for they believed that if they died fighting for their faith they would at once enter into a paradise of endless delights. If they hesitated, only the pains of hell awaited them.
So with fanatic zeal and lust of blood and of gold burning in them, the dark-faced horde swept onward. All Persia fell before them, from the Caspian Sea to the Indus. Syria the Holy Land, Armenia, were torn from the Empire. Egypt, too, bowed to the yoke. Yet Constantinople stood firm, and again and yet again the ravening host was rolled back from its walls discomfited.
But through the Golden Gate of Constantinople was not the only way of reaching Europe. The Mediterranean lay open to the Moslem ships, and soon the trade routes of the world were in their hands. Throughout the length and breadth of the inland sea they sailed at will. They overran the north of Africa, and the kingdom of the Vandals, which Justinian had reconquered for the Eastern Empire, became another jewel in the caliph's crown. Through Africa the conquering Arab marched until he reached the shores of the Atlantic. There, like some new Alexander, he stood, sighing for more worlds to conquer. Westward lay the barren Outer Sea, the great double continent which lay across its wide waters still unknown and unguessed at. Southward lay the trackless desert. Northward then to Europe the conqueror's eyes were turned.
Across the narrrow Straits lay Spain. Since the days when Ataulphus the son of the Wolf had led his followers there (see Chapter I) the power of the Visigoths had spread until at length they held sway over the whole of what is now Spain, and over a great part of southern Gaul as well. For nearly three centuries foreign foes had scarcely touched their borders. Yet the Goths did not prosper. For they were a turbulent people, and the kingdom was nearly always in a state of unrest. Many of their kings died by murder, many were deposed, revolutions were frequent and bloody.
Roderick and Tarick
Now, instead of uniting against the Moslem danger, they still quarrelled among themselves. A noble named Roderick had usurped the throne. But there were many who hated him, among them the sons of the late king, and a certain Julian, to whom he had done a deadly wrong. The Jews, too, of whom there were many in the land, were ready to revolt, for they were cruelly persecuted.
The Arab love of plunder was well known, and it seemed to all these malcontents that it would be well to have their help to depose the hated king, Roderick. The Arabs would come, thought the Visigoths, defeat and depose their king, and, having plundered him to their heart's content, would depart again to their own land.
So Count Julian went to the Arab leader and offered to help him if he would but come and free the country from the yoke of the usurper. The Moslems were willing enough, and a young and skilful officer named Tarick was sent to depose King Roderick. He landed at the rocky south-western corner of Europe which, after him, was called Jebal-Tarick, or the rock of Tarick. It is still called by that name, Gibraltar, although the last syllable has fallen away.
Upon landing, Tarick fortified his camp, and thus more than twelve hundred years ago began the military history of one of the most famous fortresses of the world. King Roderick hastened to meet Tarick, and not far from the town of Xeres a great fight took place But when the armies drew near to each other, we are told, "the Gothic princes began to spin the web of treason." They, with their followers, deserted and joined the Saracen ranks, and soon the rest of the Gothic army broke and fled in disorder.
King Roderick had entered the battle as if he were going to a play, so disdainful was he of the heathen invader. Clad in flowing silken robes, with a jewelled diadem about his brow, he reclined in an ivory car, drawn by milk-white mules. But when he saw the day lost and his soldiers fleeing in rout, he sprang from the car, and leaping upon his fleetest horse, joined the rout. He fled from battle, however, only to meet death in another fashion. For in trying to cross a river, which flowed near the battlefield, he was drowned.
The Saracen victory was complete. But instead of being content with their triumph and plunder, as Count Julian and his fellow-conspirators had imagined, the victorious troops march
ed further and further into Spain. Everywhere towns opened their gates to them. Hardly anywhere did they meet with the slightest resistance, and in a few months the Visigothic kingdom was wiped from the map of Europe. It vanished even as the Ostrogothic kingdom had vanished, and the whole of Spain, save a little strip in the north-west, became a province of the great Mohammedan Empire.
But the conquerors were not content with Spain only. They swept on over the Pyrenees, and before long all the south of Gaul was in their hands. Nothing, it seemed, could stay their conquering march. In less than a century and a half the Arabs had built up almost the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Now it appeared as if all Europe might bow the knee to Allah, and pay tribute to the caliph.
Arab Rule in Spain
Yet it is well to remember that where the conquering Arab passed he did not destroy as the Hun and the Goth destroyed. Beneath the onslaught of the Christian, but more than half barbaric Teutons, the art and learning of Rome to a great extent disappeared, and Italy especially was left forlorn and desolate.
It was not so much that the Teutons deliberately set themselves to destroy the splendid monuments of Roman art and learning, as we are taught to imagine by the modern use of Goth and Vandal. Indeed, many of the chief Teutonic leaders had been trained in the school of Rome, and desired to preserve all that was best of Roman tradition. But even so, the genius of the two peoples was so diverse that much that was Roman was bound to disappear. Besides, although some of the leaders were more or less civilized, their followers were still brutishly ignorant.
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