Romanticised Nonsense

History is full of misconceptions and airbrushing of crimes to present a nostalgic view justifying the rule and crimes of one side or other. More often than not the truth lies in between – neither pure as the driven snow, nor wicked enough to put Sodom and Gomorrah to shame. The Moors – more accurately Berbers – are no different, but misconceptions about them are rife. Their contribution to Europe was immense.

Talk of brutality and slavery being brought to Europe by Arabs – the Umayyads conquered the Mahgreb, but did so without the usual brutality of war – and imposed by Moors is arrant nonsense. Did they keep slaves? They certainly did, but slavery in Europe pre-dated Tariq ibn Ziyad’s arrival in Spain by centuries, and it is conveniently forgotten that the slavery brought by the Umayyads was little different to that practiced by the Romans and Greeks – it was more servitude than what we would consider slavery. Chattel slavery was vastly different, and that certainly was not brought to Europe by Moors.

Progress

In ancient times captives of war were enslaved. Spain is no different. Slavery there pre-dated the arrival of the Romans, Carthaginians and Phoenicians, and it lasted long after the Visigoths under Alaric finally defeated the Roman Empire. The Visigoths rule over Hispania was finally ended by the Islamic conquest of Spain.

The Visigoths were once considered Barbarians – originally a Greek term for foreigners made derogatory by the Romans. It came to mean uncivilised and was used to justify the imposition of Roman rule and hegemony over these tribes. The Visigoths were far from uncivilised as their artistic jewellery amply proves, but they could be extremely brutal even to each other.

Internal Rivalries

The ‘last’ King of the Visigoths, Rodéric was a nobleman by birth, but had no right of succession. He was considered by many a usurper. The previous and last ‘legitimate’ King of the Visigoths was Wittiza. After a promising ‘honeymoon’ Wittiza turned despot, torturing, imprisoning or executing rivals. Among those dispossessed was Theodofred, father of Rodéric. He was blinded and imprisoned by Wittiza. Rodéric fled into exile.

As Wiitiza’s despotism grew, so did opposition, leading to a coup by nobles, who appointed Rodéric the new ruler. Rodéric lost no time settling scores for his father. Wittiza was blinded and imprisoned – the same fate he imposed on Theodofred, Wittiza spent his remaining days – not many – wracked by remorse, but it was too little, too late. And then there was Achila II, Wittiza’s son. Unlike Rodéric, he had a legitimate claim by right to the Visigoths’ throne – their rivalry weakened the Visigoth cause.

Rodéric ruled primarily in the south and considered the Muslims his greatest threat, while Achilo’s domain was in the north of Spain and south of modern day France. After Rodéric’s defeat and death at Guadalete, Achila had to confront the Umayyads and was defeated within three years. He was succeeded by Ardabastus (Ardo) the last Visigoth King. His reign lasted approximately seven years – his defeat and death consigned the Visigoths to history, but the seeds of Visigoth destruction were planted almost a decade earlier.

Rodéric also alienated a Visigoth nobleman, Julian, the Count of Ceuta. It was claimed – history is uncertain on whether Julian even had a daughter, let alone what was alleged to have happened – that Julian was said to have sent his daughter to Rodéric to be educated, but instead the King raped her. Enraged, Julian took his revenge – a revenge many consider treason. Julian encouraged Tariq ibn Ziyad’s invasion – he even facilitated and aided it. Without the Count of Ceuta’s involvement the invasion would at the very least have been far more difficult to execute.

Acquiescence and Tolerance

The conquest of the Mahgreb and Berbers by the Umayyads bordered on acquiescence as merit was rewarded and the beliefs of the ‘conquered’ was tolerated.

Former slave turned Emir of Tangier, Tarik ibn Ziyad, was the first to cross over Gibraltar from Morocco to Spain. It paved the way for the Berber’s Islamisation of Spain – the one that hardly gets acknowledged in Europe, but is the subject of remarkable ignorance. Ironically, the origins of the Islam of the Emirate of Cordoba and also the Berbers had the same source – the Umayyad Caliphate and Empire.
Islam came to North Africa from Yemen and Saudi Arabia too, but this time it came through conquest – the roots, however were permanent and affected the course of both Morocco and Spain. It should be remembered that despite this expansion coming through the Umayyad Caliphate, they were not originally Muslims.

The Umayyad dynasty began in 661 AD, lasting until 750. The Umayyads eventually converted to Islam, although they remained tolerant of other faiths. Their treatment of Jews is particularly striking, as Jews had been persecuted by Christians especially. Jews were accepted and protected by the Umayyads and were part of the Umayyad invasion of Europe.

The Power and the Glory

By 718 the Berber and Umayyad presence in Spain was established, although fighting continued. The last Visigoth King of Hispania, Rodéric, had usurped the throne and underestimated his Visigoth enemies to concentrate on countering the Muslim threat, but many Visigoths and others joined the Berber cause.

Tariq ibn Ziyad led the first Islamic forces over the Straits of Gibraltar and the Rock itself and into Spain with just 7000 followers, yet he inflicted the decisive defeat of the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete. Although fighting continued it established the Umayyad presence in Spain and all but ended Visigoth rule in Spain.

Keen to get his share of the glory ibn Ziyad’s former master, Musa ibn Nusayr, joined the invasion, taking Seville. The pair consolidated Umayyad power and continued the expansion into southern France too, but the treasures seized in the campaign exacted a high price. They argued over the spoils. It would cost ibn Nusayr dear.

The Harder He Fell

Ibn Ziyad later brought about the downfall of his ‘benefactor’ and it came through the conquest of the Visigoths. They rowed fiercely over the spoils. And that provided an opportunity for another – the brother of the Caliph Al-Walid I, and later Caliph Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik.

Both ibn Ziyad and ibn Nusayr were summoned back by the Caliph. Ibn Nusayr ignored it temporarily, reasoning that the Visigoths were weakened and had to be defeated totally before they could regroup. He was right, but it had an effect.

Ibn Nusayr soon fell out of favour, due in part to ibn Ziyad, as they disputed who had secured some treasures. Ibn Nusayr was in fact a pivotal figure in Moroccan and Spanish history. He extended Islamic rule to the Bay of Biscay – ibn Ziyad pushed further. He had been summoned back by the Caliph, Al-Walid I, along with ibn Ziyad, but had ignored the summons in order to complete the defeat of the Visigoths. When he obeyed the summons the Caliph was ill. Al-Walid I’s brother and successor had wanted ibn Nusayr to delay his entry into Damascus, but the Emir ignored him. The subsequent death of Al-Walid I proved disastrous.

The new Caliph, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik bore a huge grudge. Ibn Nusayr had thwarted his plans over treasures – he later seized what he wanted – and prevented the ambitious al-Malik from stealing the glory of his conquests. Al-Malik’s revenge was swift.

Tolerant

Ibn Nusayr’s son Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, had played an important role in the conquest of Spain. However, he had married the defeated King Rodéric’s wife Egilona and her influence contributed to problems. She demanded that his subjects show deference to him. He was attacked in a conspiracy to kill him and was in fact assassinated despite seeking sanctuary in a mosque. His head delivered to the Caliph in front of ibn Nusayr.

Ibn Musa had been considered too lenient in his terms of surrender imposed on defeated Christians. He allowed defeated Visigoths to keep their faith and much more, demanding little more than the tax – and soon became suspected of being a Christian. He was assassinated soon after ibn Nusayr’s fall from grace. After ibn Nusayr’s fall, another son Abd Allah ibn Musa was executed on the orders of Sulayman.

Ibn Musa died in poverty a consequence of his disgrace, but history has been kinder to him. Al-Andalus and also the conquest of the Berbers owed much to him and clearly affected the course of history.