OMMIADES or (755-787), on accepting the Spanish throne, which was offered him by tie Arab chiefs, assumed the title of Caliph and Emir-al-mumenia, and in spite of numerous revolts, strengthened and extended his power in Spain, till, with the exception of .Asturias and the country ii. of the Ebro, his authority was every where acknowledged. His defeat of Charlemagne at Roncesvalles (q.v.) is too widely known to require further notice. He divided his kingdom into six provinces, whose rulers, with the walls of the twelve principal towns, formed a sort of national diet. His successors, HESIIAM I. (787-93) and AL-IIKKE:st I. (796-821), were much troubled with internal revolts, under cover of which the Christians in the u.e. established the state known as the "Spanish March." ABDERRAIIMAN II. (821-52) re-established internal quiet, and occupied his subjects with incessant wars against the Christians. These conflicts developed among the Arabs that chivalrous heroism which is found nowhere else in the Mohammedan world. Abderrahman, himself a man of learning, greatly encouraged the arts and sciences, and diffused inforination among his people; he also attempted, by regulating the laws of succession to property, to constitute his kingdom on a basis analogous to that of other European nations. During his reign Mohammedan Spain was the best governed country in Europe. His successors. .MonAmmeo I. (852 80), MoximAu (880-82), and ABDALLAII (882-912), followed in his footsteps. ABDER III. (912-61), after suppressing some dan,gerous revolts which had gathered head during his minority, conquered the kingdom of Fez from the Edrisites, and brought a long and exhausting war with the powers of Asturias and Leon to a victorious conclusion. This period is justly termed the golden age of the Arab domination in Spain, for at no period was their power so consolidated, and their prosperity so flourishing. Abder rahman, like his predecessors, was a great encourager of learning, and a poet of no mean ability. He founded schools which far surpassed those in other parts of Europe. His son, AL-ITAKEIE II. (961-76), was in every way worthy to be his successor, but his
premature death was the cause of the downfall of the Ommiades in Spain. IIEsiram II. (976-about 1013), a child of eight years, now occupied the throne; but fortunately his mother, Sobeiha, possessed the abilities necessary for such an emergency, and appointed as her son's vizier Mohammed ben Abdallah, surnamed Al-Mansor, who had originally been a peasant. This remarkable man gained the affections of all ranks by his pleasing manners and great abilities; his administration was equally just and judi cious, and his encouragement of literature, science, and art alike liberal and discriminat ing. But it is as a warrior that he is chiefly remembered; he had vowed eternal enmity to the Christians, and in all his numerous expeditions fortune seemed' chained to his standard. The lost provinces were recovered; Castile, Leon, and Barcelona were con quered; and Navarre was on the point of sharing the same fate, when a rebellion in Fez compelled him to detach a portion of his force for service in Africa, and the combined armies of the four Christian monarchies, seizing this opportunity, inflicted upon the Arabs a sanguinary defeat in 1001. Mohammed's spirit was completely broken by this blow, and he died a few days afterwards. With him the star of the house of Ommeyali set for ever. The rest of Hesham's reign was a scene of disorder and civil war. Pre tenders to the caliphate arose, while the "walls" of the various provinces set up as inde peudent rulers, and the invasions of the Christians added to the confusion. Hesham finally resigned the throne about 1013; and, with the exception of the brief reign of Hesham III. (1027-31), from this time the family of Ommeyah, which had for more than two centuries so happily and brilliantly governed the greater part of Spain, disap pears from history. One remarkable feature of their rule deserves mention, as it con trasts them so favorably with the contemporary and subsequent rulers of Spain, even to the present time, and that is their universal toleration in religious matters.