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 Umayyads

It was one of the world’s major empires, albeit a short-lived one, but its influence, culturally, historically, politically, etc. was immense and not just in Spain, but Morocco too. But few remember its name – the Umayyad. It was one of four Caliphates that sprung up shortly after the death of the founder of Islam, Muhammad.

It became established as a major power and empire in 661 AD and was based mainly in Damascus. Muawaiya ibn Abi Sufyan was the first Caliph to extend its influence. At its height it was one of the greatest ever empires in terms of land ruled and subjects as a percentage of the world’s population. Less than a century later it passed into history – its brand of Islam deemed too secular for some.

Nevertheless, it brought more than conquest. It brought Islam to North Africa, the Mahgreb, and also to Europe, Spain, but the Umayyads were tolerant of other faiths, as long as the tax was paid, especially Jews and this played a major part in what followed. Their tolerance of other faiths and peoples was both its greatest strength and ultimately its greatest weakness too.

The Umayyad Empire became one of the largest and most successful empires in history, especially of that time. A large part of that was due to the expansionist policies of the Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik (Al-Walid I – 705-715), and the assimilation of the conquered into the empire.

The Conquests

Before Spain could be conquered Musa ibn Nusayr had been given a task. He had to expand the Empire by conquering swathes of North Africa, He did so. By 698 he had become the first Emir of Ifriqiya, not beholden to Egypt. He also governed the Balearic Islands and Sardinia. It was near the height of his powers, but ibn Nusayr was headed for a mighty fall.

Berbers were conquered but accepted on merit. Even slaves could advance if they had requisite skills. One did in abundance, and he helped change the course of history, ultimately at great cost to his former master, ibn Nusayr. The pair, Tarik ibn Ziyad and ibn Nusayr were responsible for the conquest of Spain and establishment of Al-Andalus, although the Visigoth, Julian, Count of Ceuta, played an important role too.

The rivalry among Visigoth rulers helped the Islamic conquest. The last King of the Visigoths in Spain, Rodéric, lost no time avenging the family slight on his father, Theodofred, and enforced exile by the King Wittiza, whom Rodéric, had blinded and imprisoned – the same fate his father had suffered at Wittiza’s hands. Wittiza did not last long after his capture, but Rodéric’s coup came at a price – the Visigoths were divided and ripe to lose their influence.

Rodéric then made an important enemy of Julian, Count of Ceuta, by raping his daughter, although it is far from certain that this happened. Nevertheless, Julian’s ensuing actions were extreme if he had no cause – he betrayed the Visigoth cause totally, facilitating and actively aiding the Moors.

Julian’s revenge was to aid the Berber and Umayyad commander, ibn Ziyad – the man who began Islamic expansion into Spain. He assisted ibn Ziyad to invade through Gibraltar. Ibn Nusayr later joined his former slave in the conquest, playing an important role too. The Berber origins of ibn Ziyad suggest that he was indeed subordinate to ibn Nusayr, at least at first. However, he was a gifted military commander.

The Mountain

Even without this, you probably know a bit of his legacy even if you don’t know of him. In Morocco, Gibraltar is named after him, and almost certainly is where the rock got its name from. In Arabic it’s called Gebral Tariq (Tariq’s Mountain). The similarity between Gebral Tariq and Gibraltar is too great to be coincidence.

This was the point where Berbers crossed from Africa into Spain, extending the Umayyad Empire, thanks to Julian’s assistance. So who was Tariq ibn Ziyad? He was originally a slave of the Emir of Ifriqiya – a region of North Africa – Musa ibn Nusayr, who gave ibn Ziyad his freedom and appointed him a military commander. He was further rewarded with the Governorship of Tangier.

Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed over the Straits of Gibraltar, and onto the Rock with 7000 followers. He was provided with further assistance by Julian. Despite facing a far larger army under the ‘usurper’ King Rodéric, ibn Ziyad inflicted the major defeat of Visigoth Spain within three weeks of his arrival in Spain at the Battle of Guadalete.

Hearing of ibn Ziyad’s success and not wanting a Berber to get the glory of subjugating Spain, ibn Nusayr also crossed into Spain, taking Seville before advancing to meet ibn Ziyad at Toledo. The conquests led to the seizure of a huge haul of treasures and this contributed to the falling out between the Emir and his former slave.