SPAIN 211 tained himself successfully against the inva- sion of the Arabs. The conquered part of Spain became at first a province of the eastern caliphs. "When the Ommiyade line of caliphs was overthrown by the Abbassides, Abderrah- man, who had escaped the massacre of his family, was invited to Spain, and in 756 es- tablished an independent Ommiyade dynasty at Cordova, which attained a high degree of prosperity, especially under Abderrahman III. (912-961). Agriculture, commerce, science, and art flourished, and the literary institutions of the Spanish Mohammedans were so cele- brated that they were frequented by Christian students from all countries of Europe. The Jews became very prosperous, and it was in Spain that the mediaeval Hebrew literature reached its highest development. The lan- guage and customs of the Moors became gen- erally predominant ; the Christians were de- prived of their political rights, yet retained the free exercise of their religion. Early in the llth century the caliphate of Cordova be- came the prey of internal revolutions, and in 1031 it disappeared altogether, numerous king- doms being founded on its ruins. During the three centuries of its existence the Christian power had been steadily extending in the north of the peninsula. The little kingdom which maintained itself under Pelayo in the moun- tainous districts of N. W. Spain was at first limited to the district of Oviedo, and therefore called the kingdom of Oviedo. The second suc- cessor of Pelayo, Alfonso L, the Catholic, con- quered Galicia, with a part of Leon and Castile, and assumed the title of king of Asturias. The whole of Leon was conquered by Alfonso III., the Great (abdicated 910), whose son Ordono II. transferred his residence to the city of Leon, and called his dominion the kingdom of Leon. N. E. Spain was conquered by Charle- magne, and became known as the Marca His- panica, but the Frank dominion was of short duration. Navarre appears as an independent state in the 9th century, and gradually rose to be a powerful kingdom. Near the sources of the Ebro and the Pisuerga arose the kingdom of Castile, at first a small republic, consisting of some forts and a few towns. If it was ever fully subdued by the Moors, it threw off their yoke very soon, for as early as 759 there appears a count of Castile. Its territory was soon enlarged, but for some time it was subject to Leon, until in 961, under Fernando Gonzales, it recovered its independence. . Its rulers soon assumed the title of king, and in 1037 Ferdinand L, the Great, united the king- dom of Leon with Castile, which was henceforth the most powerful Spanish state. Catalonia was ruled by counts, the most prominent being those of Barcelona, who early in the 12th cen- tury became the sole rulers. Aragon, which had formed a part of Navarre, became an in- dependent kingdom under Ramiro I. in 1035, and in 1137 it was united with Catalonia. Portugal was made a distinct county by Al- fonso VI. of Castile about 1095, and in 1139 was erected into a kingdom. The most impor- tant of the Moorish states which arose out of the caliphate of Cordova were Toledo, Valen- cia, Murcia, Saragossa, and Seville. The last became very powerful under the Abadite princes, and comprised Andalusia, Cordova, Al- garve, and other territories. In the latter half of the llth century the Christians found a brave leader in Alfonso VI. of Castile, whose reign was rendered brilliant by the romantic exploits of the Cid. Alfonso destroyed .the kingdom of Toledo (1085), made its capital his residence, and named his conquest New Cas- tile. Toward the close of the llth century the Moorish sect of the Almoravides, who had established their dynasty in Morocco, invaded Spain, overthrew the kingdom of Seville, and rapidly extended their sway over the other Moorish territories. But before the middle of the 12th century a new revolution in Africa raised the sect of the Almohades to power, and the Almoravides of Spain succumbed. The Christian princes, who like the Moham- medan rulers had constantly warred against each other, resolved to unite their forces in a common effort, and in 1212 Alfonso IX. of Castile, with the kings of Aragon and Navarre, annihilated the power of the Almohades in the great battle of Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena. Their empire fell to pieces, the new states were successively subdued by the Christians, and before the close of the cen- tury Moorish dominion had been restricted to the kingdom of Granada, which paid homage to Castile. Granada continued for two cen- turies a great and populous state. "Weakened by continual wars with Castile and by internal dissensions, it finally, after a desperate con- flict, succumbed under the famous Boabdil to Ferdinand and Isabella. Among the Christian states of Spain, Aragon and Castile became the most powerful, and in the course of time absorbed all the others. Pedro I. of Aragon conquered the principality of Huesca ; Alfon- so I. (in 1118) Saragossa, which he made his capital; Alfonso II. and Pedro the Catholic likewise enlarged the empire; James (Jaime) I., the Conqueror, wrested from the Moors the Balearic islands and the kingdom of Valen- cia; Pedro III. occupied Sicily in 1282; 'and Alfonso V. united Naples with his kingdom. But, while enlarging its territory, Aragon suf- fered at home almost continually from civil broils and plots, from contests between the grandees and the kings, and from oppression of the people by taxes. It was, however, the first Christian state in which the third estate obtained a legal position. (See ARAGON.) When the Catalonian line of princes became extinct, the cortes of Aragon in 1412 elected Ferdinand, infante of Castile, their king, and his descendants ruled the country until the latter part of the 15th century, when the marriage of Ferdinand V., the Catholic, of Aragon, with Isabella of Castile, consolidated all Christian
