after a few days’ illness, he died. He was buried in Damascus and mourned by the whole East.
The character of Saladin and of his work is singularly vivid. In many ways he was a typical Mahommedan, fiercely hostile towards unbelievers—“Let us purge the air of the air they breathe” was his aim for the demons cf the Cross,—intensely devout and regular in prayers and fasting. He showed the pride of race in the declaration that “God reserved this triumph for the Ayyubites before all others.” His generosity and hospitality were proved in his gifts to Richard and his treatment of captives. He had the Oriental’s power of endurance, alternating with violent and emotional courage. Other virtues were all his own, his extreme gentleness, his love for children, his flawless honesty, his invariable kindliness, his chivalry to women and the weak. Above all he typifies the Mahommedan’s utter self-surrender to a sacred cause. His achievements were the inevitable expression of his character. He was not a statesman, for he left no constitution or code to the East; his empire was divided among his relatives on his death. As a strategist, though of great ability, he cannot be compared to Richard. As a general, he never organized an army. “My troops will do nothing,” he confessed, “save when I ride at their head and review them.” His fame lives in Eastern history as the conqueror who stemmed the tide of Western conquest on the East, and turned it definitely from East to West, as the hero who momentarily united the unruly East, and as the saint who realized in his personality the highest virtues and ideals of Mahommedanism.
Authorities.—The contemporary Arabian authorities are to be found in Michaud's Recueil des historiens des Croisades (Paris. 1876). This contains the work of Baha-ud-din (1145–1234), diplomatist, and secretary of Saladin, the general history of Ibn-Athir (1160–1233), the eulogist of the atabegs of Mosul but the unwilling admirer of Saladin, and parts of the general history of Abulfeda. The biography of the poet Osema ibn Murkidh (1095–1188), edited by Derenbourg (Paris, 1886), gives an invaluable picture of Eastern life. Later Arabian authorities are Ibn Khalliklan (1211–1282) and Abu-Shama (born 1267). Of Christian aut orities the following are important, the history of William of Tyre (1137–1185), the Itinerarium peregrinorum, probably the Latin version of the Carmen Ambrosii (ed. by Stubbs, “Rolls” series, London, 1864), and the Chronique d’outremer, or the French translation of William of Tyre’s history and its continuation by Ernoul, the squire of Balian, seigneur of Ibelin, 1228. The best modern authority is Stanley Lane-Poole’s Saladin (“Heroes of the Nations” series, London, 1903). See also the bibliography to Crusades. (W. F. K.)
SALAMANCA, a frontier province of eastern Spain, formed
in 1833 out of the southern part of the ancient kingdom of Leon,
and bounded on the N. by Zamora and Valladolid, E. by Avila,
S. by Caceres and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900) 320,765; area,
4829 sq. m. Salamanca belongs almost entirely to the basin of
the Duero (Portuguese Douro, q.v.), its principal rivers being the
Tormes, which follows the general slope of the province towards
the north-west, and after a course of 135 m. flows into the Duero,
which forms part of the north-west boundary; the Yeltes and
the Agueda, also tributaries of the Duero; and the Alagon, an
affluent of the Tagus. The northern part of the province is
flat, and at its lowest point (on the Duero) is 488 ft. above sea-level.
The southern border is partly defined along the crests of
the Grédos and Gata ranges, but the highest point is La Alberca
(5692 ft.) in the Sierra de Peña Francia, which rises a little farther
north. The rainfall is irregular; but where it is plentiful the
soil is productive and there are good harvests of wine, oil, hemp,
and cereals of all kinds. Forests of oak, pine, beech and
chestnut cover a wide area. in the south and south-west; and
timber is sent in large quantities to other parts of Spain. Sheep
and cattle also find good pasturage, and out of the forty-nine
Spanish provinces only Badajoz, Cáceres and Teruel have a
larger number of live stock. Gold is found in the streams, and
iron, lead, copper, zinc, coal and rock crystal in the hills, but the
mines are only partially developed, and it is doubtful if the
deposits would repay exploitation on a larger scale. The manufactures
of the province are few and mostly of a low class, intended
for home consumption, such as frieze, coarse cloth, hats
and pottery. The capital, Salamanca (pop. 1900, 25,690), and
the town of Ciudad Rodrigo} (8930) are described in separate
articles. Béjar (9488) is the only other town of more than 5000
inhabitants. The railways from Zamora, Medina, Plasencia and
Peñaranda converge upon the capital, whence two lines go westward
into Portugal—one via Barca d’Alva to Oporto, the other
via Villar Formoso to Guarda. Few Spanish provinces lose so
small a number of emigrants, and the population tends gradually
to increase. See also Leon.
SALAMANCA (anc. Salmantica or Elmantica), the capital of
the Spanish province of Salamanca, on the right bank of the
river Tormes, 2648 ft. above sea-level and 172 m. by rail N.W.
of Madrid. Pop. (1900) 25,690. Salamanca is the centre of a
network of railways which radiate N. to Zamora, N .E. to Medina,
E. to Peñaranda, S. to Plasencia, W.S.W. to Guarda in Portugal,
and W. to Oporto in Portugal. The river is here crossed by a
bridge 500 ft. long built on twenty-six arches, fifteen of which are
of Roman origin, while the remainder date from the 16th century.
The city is still much the same in outward appearance as when
its tortuous streets were thronged with students. The university
was naturally the chief source of wealth to the town, the population
of which in the 16th century numbered 50,000, 10,000 of
whom were students. Its decay of course reacted on the townsfolk,
but it fortunately also arrested the process of modernization.
The ravages of war alone have wrought serious damage, for the
French in their defensive operations in 1811–1812 almost
destroyed the western quarter. The ruins still remain, and give
an air of desolation which is not borne out by the real condition
of the inhabitants, however poverty-stricken they may appear.
Side by side with the remains of a. great past are the modern
buildings: two theatres, a casino, bull-ring, town hall and
electric light factory. The magnificent Plaza Mayor, built by
Andres Garcia de Quiñones at the beginning of the 18th century,
and capable of holding 20,000 people to witness a bull-fight, is
one of the finest squares in Europe. It is surrounded by an
arcade of ninety arches on Corinthian columns, one side of the
square being occupied by the municipal buildings. A The decorations
of the facades are in the Renaissance style, and the plaza
as a whole is a fine sample of Plateresque architecture.
The University.—Salamanca is still rich in educational establishments. It still keeps up its university, with the separate faculties of letters, philosophy, sciences, law and medicine; its university and provincial public library, with 80,000 volumes and 1000 MSS.; its Irish college, provincial institute, superior normal school, ecclesiastical seminary (founded in 1778), economic and other learned societies, and very many charitable foundations. The city has still its 25 parishes, 25 colleges, and as many more or less ruinous convents, and 10 yet flourishing religious houses. The university, the oldest in the Peninsula, was founded about 1230 by Alphonso IX. of Leon, and re founded in 1242 by St Ferdinand of Castile. Under the patronage of the learned Alphonso X. its wealth and reputation greatly increased (1252–1282), and its schools of canon law and civil law attracted students even from Paris and Bologna. In the 15th and 16th centuries it was renowned throughout Europe. Here Columbus, to whom a statue was erected in 1891, lectured on his discoveries, and here the Copernican system was taught long before it had won general acceptance. But soon after 1550 a period of decline set in. The university statutes were remodelled in 1757, but financial troubles and the incessant wars which checked almost every reform in Spain prevented any recovery up to 1857, when a fresh reorganization was effected. At the beginning of the 20th century the number of students was about 1200, and the number of professors 19—fewer than in any other Spanish university.
Principal Buildings.—The chief objects of interest in the city are the old and new cathedrals. The old cathedral is a cruciform building of the 12th century, begun by Bishop jeronimo, the confessor of the Cid (q.v.). Its style of architecture is that Late Romanesque which prevailed in the south of France, but the builder showed much originality in the construction of the dome, which covers the crossing of the nave and transepts. The inner dome is made to spring, not from immediately above the arches, but from a higher stage of a double arcade pierced with windows. The thrust of the vaulting is borne by four massive pinnacles, and over the inner dome is an outer pointed one covered with tiles. The Whole forms a most effective and graceful group. On the vault of the apse is a fresco of Our Lord in judgment by the Italian painter Nicolas Florentino (15th century. The reredos, which has the peculiarity of fitting the curve of the apse, contains fifty-five panels with paintings mostly by the same artist. There are many fine monuments in the south transept and cloister chapels. An adjoining building, the Capilla de Talavera, is used as a chapel for service according to the Mozarabic rite, which
