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SPAIN
the political unitv achieved bv his father, accepting
the Catholic Faith in the Third Council of Toledo
(589). The religious unity established by this coun-
cil was the basis of that fusion of Goths with His-
pano-Romans which produced the Spanish Nation.
Sisebut and Suintila completed the expulsion of the
Byzantines from Spain. Chindasvint and Reces-
vint laboured for legislative unity, and legalized mar-
riages, hitherto prohibited, between Goths and Lat-
ins. After Wamba, famous for his opposition to his
own election, an unmistakable decline of the Gothic
monarchy set in. Manners were rela.xed, immoraUty
increased, and Witiza has stood in Spanish history for
the type of that decay which, in the next reign, that of
Roderic (710-14), ended in the ruin of the kingdom.
During this period many very important councils were held in Spain. Among the most memorable were: that of Tarragona (516), at which ten bishops
Triumph.^l Arch
Gonzalez, Buroos, 1539
assisted, the First Council of Barcelona (540), and
those of L^rida and Valencia (546). But most im-
portant of all, and of a special character, were the
Councils of Toledo and of Braga (Bracara). Emi-
nent among the saints of the same period are the two
holy brothers Leander, who presided at the Third
Council of Toledo, and Isidore, who presided at the
Fourth, and who wrote a celebrated encyclopedia
(The Etymologies) and contributed to the upbuilding
of Mozarabic literature, St. Saturius, the solitarv, St.
Emihan (Milldn), the father of monks, St. Victorian,
abbot of the monastery of Asana, St. Gaudiosus,
Bishop of Tarazona, St." Toribius, St. Martin of Du-
niio, St. Ildefonsus, St. Braulius, St. Eugenius, and
St. Taj6n, Bishop of Saragossa. To this period, also,
belong the poets Orentius and Dracontius, the chron-
iclers Idacius and John of Biclara, and the historian
Paulus Orosius.
E. Arnh Spain. — (1) The Moslem Domina- tion. — While the Gothic kingdom was decaying through iffctiiinacy and the discord produced by the elective syBt(jTii of monarchy, the fanatical sectaries of the Koran^vere advancing through North Africa. Legend has it that Count Julian, the governor of
Ceuta, in revenge for the violation of his daughter,
Florinda (also called La Cara), by King Roderic, in-
vited the Nloslems and opened to them the gates of the
Peninsula. The first expedition of the Arabs was led
by Tarif, who gave his name to Tarifa; the second, by
Tarik, who gave his name to Gibraltar (Gebal-Tarik,
"Mountain of Tarik"). Roderic went forth to meet
the invaders, and, in July, 711, the terrific battle was
fought which is generally called the battle of Guada-
lete, but which really took place near the River Bar-
bate. This river flows into the Lagoon of Janda and
was known to the Arabs as Wadi Bccca. The battle
appears to have been lost through the treachery of
partisans of Witiza, the last king. Roderic disap-
peared; it is not known whether he perished in the
fight. The Arabs spread rapidly through Andalusia,
soon reaching Toledo, the Gothic capital, while the
Jews, who were numerous in the cities, facilitated their
entrance. Musa, governor of Barbary, came to
share the triumphs of Tarik. In 714 he captured
Saragossa and followed up his conquests as far as
Lugo and Gijon, while Tarik reached Leon and As-
torga. Some of the Spaniards settled down to live
under Arab rule, calling themselves Mozarabs; the
rest fled to the mountains of the North, where they
formed the four chief rallying-points for the Recon-
quest : Asturias, Navarre, Aragon, and Catalonia.
Arab Spain was at first governed by emirs whose authority was derived from the Omaj^'ad Cahphs of Damascus. The most noted of these emirs were Ab- delaziz, son of Musa, who recognized the independ- ence of the little state, defended by Todmir, with its capital at Orihuela, and Abderraman el Gafequi, who, having penetrated into Aquitaine, was vanquished by Charles Martel at Poitiers (732). Before long, divi- sions arose among the Spanish Mussulmans, out of the antagonisms of Arabs and Berbers, Quelvites and Ma- hadites. At length Abderraman I, a scion of the Omajyad stock, who had escaped the slaughter of his family by the .\bassids, when the latter founded the Caliphate of Bagdad, himself became the founder of the independent Emirate of Cordova. Here the cul- ture of the Spanish Arabs reached its greatest splen- dour, influenced, in great measure, by the Mozarabs, who were more advanced in the sciences and arts. In 786 Abderraman began the famous mosque of Cor- dova (now the cathedral), one of the largest and most magnificent edifices of the Arab style. The first caliphs treated the Mozarabic Christians with com- parative leniency; Abderraman II, however, initiated a policy of persecution, and his son Mohammed I con- tinued it. In the city of Cordova there were seven CathoHc churches and a monasterj- connected with the Church of S. Gines, while in the neighbourhood were the monasteries of S. Crist6bal, S. Felix, S. Martin, Stos. Justo v Pastor, S. Salvador, S. Zoilo, Cuteclara, and Los T^banos. In 839 a council of three arch- bishops and five bishops was held at Cordova. The epoch of the Martyrs here began with the decollation of the priest Perfecto, in 8-50. In the following year the monk Isaac spontaneously offered himself for mar- t\Tdom, and six monks and several laymen, among them the celebrated Paulo Cordobes, died for the Faith. In 852 Gumersindo and Servideo, with eight other monks and seculars, were martyred. The readi- ness with which martyrs offered themselves to the tribunals incensed the Caliph Abderraman II, and he caused the Council of Cordova of 852 to assemble un- der the presidency of Recafredo, .\rchbishop of Sev- ille. In this council it was proposed to deny the credit of martyrdom to those who provoked persecu- tion. But persecution recommenced in 853, under Mohammed I, and the monks Fandila and Felix, the virgin Digna, Benildis, Columba, and Pomposa shed their blood for the Faith, as did the presbyters .\bun- dio and Elias, the monks Pedro, Paulo, Isidoro, and Argimiro, the youth Amador, Luis of Cordova, Wite-
