of monks, prostitutes, artists, labourers, lazy tradesmen, merchants, boys, girls, slaves, malefactors, and profligate debauchees, and that it was principally composed of the lowest dregs of the multitude, who were animated solely by the prospect of spoil and plunder, and hoped to make their fortunes by this holy campaign. Every one will perceive how little discipline, counsel, or fortitude, were to be expected from such a miserable rabble. This expedition was distinguished, in the French language, by the name of croisade, and all who embarked in it were called croises, croisards, or cross-bearers, not only because the end of this holy war was to wrest the cross of Christ out of the hands of the infidels, but also on account of the consecrated cross of various colours, which every soldier wore upon his right shoulder.*

tians, who visited the holy places, suffered || sider that this army was a motley assemblage from the barbarous and tyrannic Saracens. Inflamed therefore with a holy indignation and a furious zeal, which he looked upon as the effects of a divine impulse, he implored the assistance of Simeon, patriarch of Constantinople, and also of the pope, but without effect. Far from being discouraged by this, he renewed his efforts with the utmost vigour, went through all the countries of Europe sounding the alarm of the holy war against the infidel nations, and exhorting all Christian princes to draw the sword against the tyrants of Palestine; nor did he stop here; but, with a view to engage the superstitious and ignorant multitude in his cause, he carried about with him a letter, which he said was written in heaven, and addressed to all true Christians, to animate their zeal for the deliverance of their brethren, who groaned under the oppressive burthen of a Mohammedan yoke.*

VI. In consequence of these grand preparations, eight hundred thousand men, in separate V. When Urban saw the way prepared by bodies, and under different commanders, set the exhortations of the hermit, who had put out for Constantinople, in 1096, that, after rethe spirits of the people every where in a fer- ceiving both assistance and direction from ment, and had kindled in their breasts a vehe- Alexis Comnenius the Grecian emperor, they ment zeal for that holy carnage which the might pursue their march into Asia. One of church had been so long meditating, he as- the principal divisions of this great body marchsembled a grand and numerous council at Pla- ed under the guidance of Peter the Hermit, centia, in 1095, and recommended warmly, for the author and fomenter of the war, who was the first time, the sacred expedition against girded with a rope, and continued to appear the Saracens. This arduous enterprize was with all the marks of an austere solitary. The far from being approved by the greatest part adventurers who composed this first division of this numerous assembly, notwithstanding committed the most flagitious crimes, which the presence of the emperor's legates, who, in so incensed the inhabitants of the countries their master's name, represented most patheti-through which they passed, particularly those cally how necessary it was to set limits to the of Hungary and Bulgaria, that they rose up in power of the victorious infidels, whose autho- arms and massacred the greatest part of them. rity and dominion increased from day to day. A like fate attended several other divisions of The pontiff's proposal was, however, renewed the same army, who, under the conduct of with the same zeal, and with the desired suc-weak and unskilful chiefs, wandered about like cess, some time after this, in the council as- an undisciplined band of robbers, plundering sembled at Clermont, where Urban was pre- the cities that lay in their way, and spreading sent. The pompous and pathetic speech misery and desolation wherever they came. which he delivered on this occasion, made a The armies that were headed by illustrious deep and powerful impression upon the minds commanders, distinguished by their birth and of the French, whose natural character renders their military endowments, arrived more hapthem much superior to the Italians in encoun-pily at the capital of the Grecian empire. tering difficulties, facing danger, and attempt- That which was commanded by Godfrey of ing the execution of the most perilous designs: || so that an innumerable multitude, composed of all ranks and orders in the nation, offered themselves as volunteers in this sacred expedition. This numerous host was looked upon as formidable in the highest degree, and equal to the most glorious enterprizes and exploits, while, in reality, it was no more than an unwieldy body without life and vigour, and was weak and contemptible in every respect. This will appear sufficiently evident when we con*This circumstance is mentioned by the abbot Dodechinus, in his Continuat. Chronici Mariani Scoti, apud Scriptores Germanicos Jo. Pistorii, tom. i. p., 402. For an account of Peter, see Du-Fresne's notes upon the Alexias of Anna Comnena.

This council was the most numerous of any that had been hitherto assembled, and was, on that account, holden in the open fields. There were present at it two hundred bishops, four thousand ecclesiastics, and three hundred thousand laymen.

Theod. Ruinart. in Vit. Urbani II. sect. ccxxv. p. 224, 229, 240, 272, &c. tom. iii. op. posthum. Mabilloni et Ruinarti.-Jo. Harduini Concilia, tom. xi. nart ii. p. 1726.-Baron. Annal. Eccles. tom. xi. ad annum 1095, n. xxxii. p. 648.

Bouillon, duke of Lorraine, who deserves a place among the greatest heroes, whether of ancient or modern times,† and by his brother Baldwin, was composed of eighty thousand well chosen troops, horse and foot, and di

* See Abrah. Bzovius, Continuat. Annal. Baronii. tom. xv. ad annum 1410, n. ix. p. 322, edit. Colon.L'Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Pise, tom. ii. lib. v. p. 60.-The writers who have treated of this holy war are mentioned by Jo. Alb. Fabricius, in his Lux Evangelii toto Orbe exoriens, cap. xxx. p. 518.

†The Benedictine monks have given an ample account of this magnanimous chief, whose character was a bright assemblage of all Christian, civil, and heroic virtues, in their Histoire Literaire de la France, tom. viii. p. 598.

The engaging and illustrious virtues of Godfrey had drawn from all parts a prodigious number of volunteers, who were ambitious to fight under his standard. The magnitude of this host, however, perplexed the valiant chief, who, on that account, divided it into several bodies, and, finding in Peter the Hermit the same ambitious and military spirit that had prevailed in him before his retreat from the world, declared him the general of the first division, which was detached from the rest, and ordered to march immediately to Constantinople. By this mea

rected its march through Germany and Hun- || 1099, seemed to crown their expedition with gary. Another host, which was headed by the desired success. In this city were laid the Raymond, earl of Toulouse, passed through foundations of a new kingdom, at the head of the Sclavonian territories. Robert, earl of which was placed the famous Godfrey, whom Flanders, Robert, duke of Normandy,* Hugh, the army saluted king of Jerusalem with an brother to Philip I. king of France, embarked unanimous voice. their respective forces in a fleet which was as- But this illustrious hero, whose other emisembled at Brundisi and Tarento, whence they nent qualities were adorned with the greatest were transported to Durazzo, or Dyrrhachium, modesty, refused that high title, though he as it was anciently called. These armies were governed Jerusalem with that valour, equity, followed by Boemond, duke of Apulia and and prudence, which have rendered his name Calabria, at the head of a chosen and numer-immortal. Having chosen a small army to ous body of valiant Normans.

in process of time, they learned by experience, that these holy wars contributed much to increase their opulence and to extend their authority, by sacrificing their wealthy and powerful rivals, new motives were presented to encourage these expeditions into Palestine, and ambition and avarice seconded and enforced the dictates of fanaticism and superstition.

IX. Without determining any thing concerning the justice or injustice of these wars,

however plausible in appearance, are still no more than conjectures. The truth seems to be this; that the pope and the European princes were engaged at first in these crusades by a principle of superstition only; but when, Infideles, lib i. p. 16.-Basnage, Histoire des Egli ses Reformees, tom. i. period. v. p. 235.-Vertot, Histoire des Chevaliers de Malthe, tom. i. liv. iii. p. 302, 308; liv. iv. p. 428.-Baillet, Histoire des Demelez de Boniface VIII. avec Philippe le Bel, p. 76.— Histoire du Droit Ecclesiastique Francois, tom. i. p. 296, 299. To such, however, as consider matters at tentively, this hypothesis will appear destitute of any solid foundation. Certain it is, that the pontiff's could never have either foreseen, or imagined, that so many European princes, and such prodigious multitudes of people, would take arms against the infility, will appear not only extremely difficult, but also dels, and march into Palestine; nor could they be assured before-hand, that this expedition would tend to the advancement of their opulence and authority; for all the accessions of influence and wealth, which the popes, and the clergy in general, derived from these holy wars, were of a much later date than their origin, and were acquired by degrees, rather by lucky hits, than by deep-laid schemes; and this alone is sufficient to show, that the pontiffs, in forming the plan, and exhorting to the prosecution of these wars, had no thoughts of extending thereby the limits of their authority. We may add, to this consideration, another of no less weight in the matter before us; and that is the general opinion which prevailed at this time, both among the clergy and the people, that the conquest of Palestine would be finished in a short time, in a single campaign; that the Divine Providence would interpose, in a miraculous manner, to accomplish the ruin of the infidels; and that, after the taking of Jerusalem, the greatest part of the European princes would return home with their troops, which last circumstance was by no means favourable to the views which the popes are supposed to have formed of increasing their opulence and extending their dominion. Of all the conjectures that have been entertained upon this subject, the most improbable and groundless is that which supposes that Urban II, recommended, with such ardour, this expedition into Palestine, with a view of weakening the power of the emperor Henry IV. with whom he had a violent dispute concerning the investiture of bishops. They who adopt this conjecture, must be little acquainted with the history of these times; or at least they forget, that the first armies that marched into Palestine against the infidels, were chiefly composed of Franks and Normans, and that the Germans, who were the enemies of Urban II., were, in the beginning, extremely averse to this sacred expedition. Many other considerations might be added to illustrate this matter, which, for the sake of brevity, I pass in silence.

*I do not pretend to decide the question concerning the lawfulness of the crusades; a question which, when it is considered with attention and impartiahighly doubtful. It is, however, proper to inform the reader, that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the justice of this holy war was called in question and warmly disputed among Christians. The Waldenses and Albigenses, who were distinguished by the name of Cathari, or Puritans, considered these expeditions into Palestine as absolutely unlawful. The reasons they alleged were collected and combated by Francis Moneta, a Dominican friar of the thirteenth century, in a book entitled Summa contra Catharos et Waldenses, lib. v. cap. xiii. p. 531., which was published at Rome by Riccini. But neither the objections of the Waldenses, nor the answers of Moneta, were at all remarkable for their weight and solidity, as will appear evidently from the following examples. The former alleged, against the holy war, the words of St. Paul, I Cor. x. 32. "Give none offence; neither to the Jews nor to the "Gentiles." By the Gentiles, said they, are to be understood the Saracens. And therefore the European Christians are to abstain from making war upon the Saracens, lest they give offence to the Gentiles. We shall give Moneta's answer to this argument in his own words: "We read," says he, Gen. xii. 7, "that God said unto Abraham, Unto thy seed "will I give this land:" Now we (Christians who dwell in Europe) are the seed of Abraham, as the apostle affirms, Galat. iii. 29. Therefore we are heirs of the promise, and the holy land is given to us by the covenant as our lawful possession. Hence it appears, that it is the duty of civil and temporal rulers to use their most zealous efforts to put us in possession of the promised land, while it is, at the same time, incumbent upon the church and its ministers to exhort these rulers in the most urgent manner to the performance of their duty. A rare argument this truly! but let us hear him out. "The church has no design to injure or slaughter the Saracens, nor is such the intention of the Christian princes engaged in this war. Yet the blood of the infidels must of necessity be shed, if they make resistance and oppose the victorious arms of the princes. The church of God therefore is entirely innocent and without Gentiles, because it does no more, in reality, than maintain its undoubted right." Such is the subtile reasoning of Moneta, on which it is not necessary to make any reflections.

That part of the hypothesis, which relates to the kings and princes of Europe, and supposes that they countenanced the holy war to get rid of their pow-reproach in this matter, and gives no offence to the erful vassals, is as groundless as the other, which we have been now refuting. It is, indeed, adopted by several eminent writers, such as Vertot (Hist. de Malthe, liv. iii. p. 309,) Boulainvilliers, and others, who pretend to a superior and uncommon insight into the policy of these remote ages. The reasons, however, which these great men employed to support their opinion, may be all comprehended in this single argument, viz. "Many kings, especially 66 among the Franks, became more opulent and pow"erful by the number of their vassals, who lost their "lives and fortunes in this holy war; therefore, "these princes not only permitted, but warmly "countenanced the prosecution of this war from "selfish and ambitious principles." The weakness of this conclusion must strike every one at first sight. We are wonderfully prone to attribute both to the Roman pontiffs, and to the princes of this barbarous age, much more sagacity and cunning than they really possessed; and we deduce from the events the principles and views of the actors, which is a defective and uncertain manner of reasoning. With respect to the pontiffs, it appears most probaple that their immense opulence and authority were acquired, rather by their improving dexterously the opportunities that were offered to them, than by the schemes they had formed for extending their dominion, or filling their coffers.

Dr. Mosheim seems too modest, and even timorous in his manner of arraigning the justice of this holy war, which was so absurd in its principle, and so abominable in the odious circumstances that attended it. His respect, perhaps, for the Teutonic crosses which abound in Germany, and are the marks of an order that derives its origin from these fanatical expeditions into Palestine, may have occasioned that ambiguity and circumspection in his expressions, through which, however, it is easy to perceive his disapprobation of the crusades. The holy place profaned by the dominion of infidels, was the apparent pretext for this fanatical war. What holy place? Jerusalem, say the knights errant of Pa lestine. But they forget that Jerusalem was a city which, by the conduct of its inhabitants and the crucifixion of Christ, had become most odious in the eye of God; that it was visibly loaded with a divine malediction, and was the miserable theatre of the most tremendous judgments and calamities that ever were inflicted upon any nation. Had the case been otherwise, we know of no right which Christianity gives its professors to seize the territories, and invade the possessions of unbelievers. Had the Jews

we may boldly affirm, that they were highly || and most pernicious effects was the enormous prejudicial, both to the cause of religion, and augmentation of the influence and authority to the civil interests of mankind; and that, in of the Roman pontiffs: they also contributed, Europe more especially, they occasioned innu- in various ways, to enrich the churches and merable evils and calamities, the effects of monasteries with daily accessions of wealth, which are yet perceptible in our times. The and to open new sources of opulence to all the European nations were deprived of the great- sacerdotal orders. For they, who assumed the est part of their inhabitants by these ill-judged || cross, disposed of their possessions as if they expeditions; immense sums of money were ex- were at the point of death, on account of the ported into Asia for the support of the war; great and innumerable dangers to which they and numbers of the most powerful and opulent were to be exposed in their passage to the holy families either became extinct, or were in- land, and the opposition they were to encounvolved in the deepest miseries of poverty and ter there upon their arrival. They therefore, want. It could not easily be otherwise, since for the most part, made their wills before their the heads of the most illustrious houses either departure, and left a considerable part of their mortgaged or sold their lands and possessions possessions to the priests and monks, in order in order to pay the expenses of their voyage,* to obtain, by these pious legacies, the favor and while others imposed such intolerable burthens protection of the Deity. Many examples of upon their vassals and tenants, as obliged them these donations are to be found in ancient reto abandon their houses and all their domestic cords. Such of the holy soldiers, as had been concerns, and to enlist themselves, rather engaged in suits of law with the priests or through wild despair than religious zeal, under monks, renounced their pretensions, and subthe sacred banner of the cross. Hence the missively gave up whatever it was that had face of Europe was totally changed, and all been the subject of debate; and others, who things were thrown into the utmost confusion. had seized any of the possessions of the churchWe pass in silence the various enormities that es or convents, or had heard of any injury that were occasioned by these crusades, the mur- had been committed against the clergy by the ders, rapes, and robberies of the most infernal remotest of their ancestors, made the most linature, that were every where committed with beral restitution, both for their own usurpaimpunity by these holy soldiers of God and of tions and those of their forefathers, and made Christ, as they were impiously called; nor ample satisfaction, for the real or pretended inshall we enter into a detail of the new privi- juries committed against the church, by rich leges and rights, to which these wars gave rise, and costly donations.‡ and which were often attended with the greatest inconveniences.†

X. These holy wars were not less prejudicial to the cause of religion, and the true interests of the Christian church, than they were to the temporal concerns of men. One of their first ||

attempted the conquest of Palestine, they would have acted conformably with their apparent rights, because it was formerly their country; and consist ently also with their religious principles, because they expected a Messiah who was to bind the kings of the Gentiles in chains, and to reduce the whole world under the Jewish yoke.

* We find many memorable examples of this in the ancient records. Robert, duke of Normandy, mortgaged his duchy to his brother William king of Eng. land to defray the expenses of his voyage to Palestine. See the Histor. Major of Matthew Paris, lib. i. p. 24.-Odo, viscount of Bourges, sold his territory to the king of France. Gallia Christiana Benedicti norum, tom. ii. p. 45. See, for many examples of this kind, Car. du Fresne, Adnot. ad Joinvilli Vitam Ludovici S. p. 52.-Boulainvilliers sur l'Origine et les Droits de la Noblesse, in Molet's Memoires de Literature et de l'Histoire, tom. ix. part i. p. 68.-Jo. George Cramer, de Juribus et Prærogativis Nobilitatis, tom. i. p. 81, 409. From the commencement therefore of these holy wars, a vast number of estates, belonging to the European nobility, were either mortgaged, or totally transferred, some to kings and princes, others to priests and monks, and not a few to persons of a private condition, who, by possessing considerable sums of ready money, were enabled to make advantageous purchases.

† Such persons as entered into these expeditions, and were distinguished by the badge of the military cross, acquired thereby certain remarkable rights, which were extremely prejudicial to the rest of their fellow-citizens. Hence it happened, that when any of these holy soldiers contracted any civil obligations, or entered into conventions of sale, purchase, or any such transactions, they were previously required to renounce all privileges and immunities, which they had obtained, or might obtain in time to come, by assuming the cross. See Le Boeuf, Memoires sur l'Histoire d'Auxerre Append, tom. ii. p. 292.

VOL. I.-33

Nor were these the only unhappy effects of these holy expeditions, considered with respect to their influence upon the state of religion, and the affairs of the Christian church; for, while whole legions of bishops and abbots girded the sword to the thigh, and went as generals, volunteers, or chaplains into Palestine, the priests and monks, who had lived under their jurisdiction, and were more or less awed by their authority, threw off all restraint, led the most lawless and profligate lives, and abandoned themselves to all sorts of licentiousness, committing the most flagitious and extravagant excesses without reluctance or remorse. The monster superstition, which was already grown to an enormous size, received new accessions of strength and influence from this holy war, and exercised with greater vehemence than ever its despotic dominion over the minds of the Latins. To the crowd of saints and tutelar patrons, whose number was prodigious before this period, were now added many fictitious saints of Greek and Syrian origin,§

The translator has here inserted, in the text, the note (r) of the original, as it is purely historical, and makes an interesting part of the narration. † See Plessis, Hist. de Meaux, tom. ii. p. 76, 79, 141.-Gallia Christiana, tom. ii. p. 138, 139.-Le Bœuf, Append. p. 31.-Du Fresne, Notæ ad Vitam Ludovici Sancti, p. 52.

Du-Fresne, p. 52.

The Roman Catholic historians acknowledge, that, during the time of the crusades, many saints, unknown to the Latins before that period, were imported into Europe from Greece and the eastern provinces, and were treated with the utmost respect and the most devout veneration. Among these new patrons, there were some, whose exploits and even existence are called in question. Such, among others, was St. Catherine, whom Baronius and Cassander represent as having removed from Syria into Eu

hitherto unknown in Europe; and an incredi- || that fierce nation, which was daily extending ble quantity of relics, the greatest part of which the bounds of its empire, persisted in their were ridiculous in the highest degree, were imported into the European churches. The armies, that returned from Asia after the taking of Jerusalem, brought with them a vast number of these saintly relics, which they had bought at a high price from the crafty Greeks and Syrians, and which they considered as the noblest spoils that could crown their return from the holy land. These they committed to the custody of the clergy in the churches and monasteries, or ordered them to be most carefully preserved in their families from one generation to another.*

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Calamitous Events that happened to the Church during this Century.

cruelty toward their Christian subjects, whom they robbed, plundered, maimed, or murdered in the most barbarous manner, and loaded with all sorts of injuries and calamities. The Turks, on the other hand, not only reduced the Saracen dominion to very narrow bounds, but also seized the richest provinces of the Grecian empire, the fertile countries situated upon the coasts of the Euxine sea, and subjected them to their yoke, while they impoverished and exhausted the rest by perpetual incursions, and by the most severe and unmerciful exactions. The Greeks were not able to oppose this impetuous torrent of prosperous ambition. Their force was weakened by intestine dissuch a degree as rendered them incapable of cords, and their treasures were exhausted to raising new troops, or of paying the armies they had already in their service.

II. The Saracens in Spain opposed the pro

I. THE greatest opposition that Christians met with, in this century, was from the Saraeens and Turks. To the latter the Christiansgress of the Gospel in a different, yet still and Saracens were equally odious, and felt equally the fatal consequences of their increasing dominion. The Saracens, notwithstanding their bloody contests with the Turks, which gave them constant occupation, and the vigorous, though ineffectual efforts they were continually making to set limits to the power of

rope. See Baronius, ad Martyrol. Roman. p. 728.George Cassander, Schol. ad Hymnos Ecclesiæ. It is extremely doubtful, whether this Catherine, who is honoured as the patroness of learned men, ever ex

isted.

more pernicious way. They used all sorts of methods to allure the Christians into the profession of the Mohammedan faith. Alliances of marriage, advantageous contracts, flattering rewards, were employed to seduce them with too much success; for great numbers fell into these fatal snares, and apostatized from the truth;* and these allurements would have, undoubtedly, still continued to seduce multitudes of Christians from the bosom of the church, had not the face of affairs been changed in Spain by the victorious arms of the kings of Arragon and Castile, and more especially Ferdinand I.; for these princes, whose zeal for Christianity was equal to their military courage, defeated the Saracens in several battles, and deprived them of a great part of their territories and possessions.

*The sacred treasures of musty relics which the French, Germans, Britons, and other European nations, preserved formerly with so much care, and show even in our times with such pious ostentation, are certainly not more ancient than these holy wars, but were then purchased at a high rate from the Greeks and Syrians. These cunning traders in superstition, whose avarice and fraud were excessive, frequently imposed upon the credulity of the The number of those among the Danes, simple and ignorant Latins, by the sale of fictitious Hungarians, and other European nations, who relics. Richard, king of England, bought in 1191, retained their prejudices in favour of the idolafrom the famous Saladin, all the relics that were to be found in Jerusalem, as appears from the testimony trous religion of their ancestors, was yet very of Matthew Paris, who tells us also, that the Domi- considerable; and they persecuted, with the nicans brought from Palestine a white stone, in which Jesus Christ had left the print of his feet. The also such of their fellow-citizens as had emutmost cruelty, the neighbouring nations, and Genoese pretended to have received from Baldwin, second king of Jerusalem, the very dish in which the braced the Gospel. To put a stop to this paschal lamb was served up to Christ and his disci-barbarous persecution, Christian princes exples at the last supper; though this famous dish excites the laughter of even father Labat, in his Voy. ages en Espagne et en Italie, tom. ii. For an account of the prodigous quantity of relics, which St. Louis brought from Palestine into France, we refer the reader to the life of that prince composed by Joinville, and published by Du-Fresne; as also to Plessis, Histoire de l'Eglise de Meaux, tom. i. p. 120; and Lancelot, Memoires pour la Vie de l'Abbe de St. Cyran, tom. i. p. 175. Christ's handkerchief, which is worshipped at Besancon, was brought thither from the holy land. See J. Jaques Chiflet, Visontio, part ii. p. 108; and de Linteis Christi Sepulchralibus, c. ix. p. 50. Many other examples of this miserable superstition may be seen in Anton. Matthæi Analecta veteris Ævi, tom. ii. p. 677.—Jo. Mabillon, Annal. Bened. tom. vi. p. 52; and principally Chiflet's Crisis Historica de Linteis Christi Sepulchralibus, c. ix. x. p. 50, and also 59, where we find the following passage: "Sciendum est, vigente "immani et barbara Turcarum persecutione, et im46 'minente Christianæ religionis in oriente naufra"gio, educta a sacrariis et per Christianos quovis "modo recondita ecclesiarum pignora.-Hisce plane 'divinis opibus illectí præ aliis, sacra Aava qua "vi, qua pretio, a detinentibus hac illac extorse"runt."

erted their zeal in a terrible manner, proclaiming capital punishment against all who persisted in the worship of the Pagan deities. This dreadful severity contributed much more toward the extirpation of paganism, than the exhortations and instructions of ignorant missionaries, who were unacquainted with the true nature of the Gospel, and dishonoured its pure and holy doctrines by their licentious lives and superstitious practices.

The Prussians, Lithuanians, Sclavonians, Obotriti, and several other nations, who dwelt in the lower parts of Germany, and lay still grovelling in the darkness of paganism, con

* Jo. Henr. Hottingeri Histor. Ecclesiast. Sæc. xi. § ii. p. 452; and Michael Geddes' History of the Expulsion of the Morescoes out of Spain, which is to be found in the Miscellaneous Tracts of that Author, tom. i.

† For an account of these wars between the first Christian kings of Spain and the Moslems or Moors, see the Spanish histories of Mariana and Ferreras