Read part1
This may surprise, although historians have remained frozen, there is no contemporary testimony to the invasion of Spain, which has a relationship with these events, whether Christian or Muslim. This great lack of sources contemporary with the mythical Muslim invasion is found for the conquests in North Africa, the Middle East, even on the Byzantine side. A strange coincidence that there is no witness text of this time of great religious effervescence, which undoubtedly saw many struggles, the passion of which would have caused the destruction of all documents likely to harm the ideals defended in many terrible civil wars.
Louis Bréhier (1868-1951) in Le monde byzantin, a great expert on the Byzantine Empire from the 5th to the 15th century, affirmed that “with the help of a series of chronicles, political histories, biographies, memoirs preserved in large numbers and excellent codices, there is nothing we could ignore from the history of Byzantium. Each century has produced a chronicle and a historian. There is only a vacuum from the end of the 7th century until the beginning of the 9th century, a period of Arab invasions and iconoclastic struggles. The chronicles of this time have been lost, however later works tell us about these events. »
These later works do not ultimately offer more clues, from Byzantium to Toledo, knowing that it is very difficult to depict a state of mind, an opinion that has disappeared. Concrete facts such as an earthquake, the death of a sovereign, an epidemic, the siege of a large city, an eclipse, produce an impact in the mind and can be written into memories. An idea, an opinion “in the air”, which is transformed or disappears, leaves no trace, especially in those times when written documents were rare. Thus, for example, historians have always had great difficulty in establishing the atmosphere of the 16th century, a time of religious disputes and civil wars. Despite the fact that this is a more recent era than the Arab invasion, it has only been known a little better for a few decades. If these Byzantine chroniclers had been able to conceive, how and why a great number of their ancestors, especially those of the Asian provinces, having the same cultural tradition, had converted to other complexes of religious ideas evolving until Islam , their certainties would certainly have collapsed, as well as their religious convictions. The difficulty of transcribing facts that occurred 200 or 300 years earlier is reflected in all sources, Christian and Muslim. For this reason the use of myth suited everyone, especially when rigid dogmatism reigned among both camps. It was easier for the Christian to relate that an enemy power, remote and anonymous, had invaded a part of the territory than to confess the existence of a mode of thought different from his own which had dominated these regions and had received the membership of a large part of his ancestors.
In Spain, it was the historian of the 13th century, Jimenez de Rada who definitively established the myth of the Muslim conquest, turning it into a western sauce seasoned with the eastern: the populations victims of fire and steel had was punished by Heaven for the sins committed during the reign of the Goth kings. After, joined the novel, the story of the seduction (other sources speak of rape, and others of a lady with loose morals) of the daughter of the Byzantine governor, Julian, by Rodéric, the gout which makes the vase overflow. To avenge the honor of his daughter, Julien would have helped the Muslims to land on the Andalusian coast. The divine wrath would then have been unleashed, leaving imposing waves of Arab cavalry to strike down and desolate the country.
It has already been said that, even for the Iberian Peninsula of the 8th century, there is no contemporary evidence of the Arab invasion. Many historians still consider the Mozarabic chronicles of Isidoro Pacense, a text supposedly dated in 754, as an authentic and reliable source. Yet at the end of the 19th century, Henry Wace had revealed the mythological character of its author, and of this manuscript published for the first time in 1615. The first testimonies on this conquest of the peninsula date back 150 years (9th century) after the fact, almost always reveal a great phantasmagorical character, but can insinuate a certain reflection of what had happened. In this thesis, only the Latin chronicles prior to the 11th century will be useful.
On the Muslim side, later chroniclers of the mythical conquests – who certainly did not understand what really happened – preferred to exalt the prowess of their ancestors, in order to inflame collective self-esteem and intervention. of Providence which would have given “true” believers martial superiority. This is because, for Islam, the mythical conquest has all its theological utility. We will return later to what Georges Marçais called “the Muslim counter-reform”, a movement of ideas that the Maghreb and Spain stabilized in the 11th century, to fix Islamic belief in the 12th century. Before these dates, the dogmatism of this new religion did not yet govern these regions, because the gap which today separates Christianity from Islam was not yet impassable, and remained intertwined, as we will also see further on. before. Thus, the objectivity of Muslim sources from the 11th century or later regarding their ancient conquests remains highly questionable. The only earlier Arabic sources that may remain of interest are the works of Ibn Khaldoun (1332-1406).
For this same reason, the Berber sources present the same defect as the Arabic texts, the prototype of which is Ajbar Machmua, who wrote in 1004, a set of incoherent stories, of adventures lived by Moroccan ancestors, landed in Spain from the VIII th century, exploits embellished and exaggerated by each new generation of chroniclers. Because of these great dogmatic changes in the Maghreb and in Spain, on the part of the Muslim authorities in Egypt at the time, there is a great difference between the Berber sources prior to the 11th century, and the later sources, the first well less dogmatic, sometimes secular, are manifestations of local traditions.
The Egyptian sources, which apparently became authoritative in the Muslim world from the 11th century, to describe the Muslim conquests, begin in the 9th century and sometimes reflect, at this time, concepts older than the dates of writing, but take up the elements of the myth. Some of them are to be reconsidered:
-A chronicle on the history of the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, written by Ibn Abd El Hakem who died in 871, served as a model for the description of alleged later invasions. These wonderful fables were taken up by Berber authors like Ibn Al Kotiya and Arab authors like Ibn Idhari or Al Maqqari, etc.
-The historical writings of Abdelmalik Ibn Habib, Spanish Muslim theologist, who died in 835, have been shown to have been written by his disciple Ibn Abi Al Rica, by Reinhart Dozy in the 19th century. In accordance with certain events mentioned – such as the threat of the rebellion of Umar Ibn Hafsun on Cordoba – this text would have been written in 891.
-The chronicle of Adadith al Imama Wa-‘s-siyasa, relating facts concerning spiritual and temporal power had been attributed by many to the famous writer Ibn Qotaiba (828-889). Again, Dozy demonstrated that it was composed in 1062, and has the same fantastic vibe as the previous ones.
From a documentary point of view, these texts have absolutely no authority, they are only useful to reconstruct the roots of the myth of the expansion of Islam in the world. If we remove the Egyptian sources and the fanciful texts that reproduce them, the interesting Arabic sources can be counted on the fingers. However, we should not have any illusions, as Levi-Provençal reminded us in 1951: “Arab chronicles provide more details than Christian ones on the reign of Rodéric, the last king of Toledo. Both are naturally later than the 8th century, and the facts they relate seem suspiciously authentic. »
This very correct observation made by an author who enjoys great authority despite the fact that he is not detached from the myth of the invasion, allows us to judge the historical significance of these manuscripts. It would be foolhardy to rely on them to try to reconstruct the events of the 8th century. In a scholarly way, we must content ourselves with knowing more about the terms of their evolution. As we will see later, reading these texts is insufficient to solve this problem, the danger of misguidance is hidden behind each word. For this to be useful, it is necessary to employ two different critical methods: first, it is necessary to perceive the atmosphere that emanates from these chronicles, by which it will be possible to bring out the roots of the myth and to approach the facts authentic. Secondly, we must reconstruct the historical context, by which it is necessary to frame the facts reported in the general evolution of the modes of thought which dominated at that time, which gave meaning to these events.
The “fabulous” side of Latin sources
The Latin chronicles are characterized, as has been said, for their religious phantasmagoria, described with great innocence, and stand out from the Andalusian sources of the 10th century and the Berber sources. These Christian sources therefore have the common point, with Islam, of hiding behind a theological reasoning; in both cases it is a question of divine intervention. For some, a punishment for sins committed, for others, Providence favoring the expansion of Islam. Current knowledge teaches us that the events of the 8th century are the fruit of a religious competition, which surpasses and absorbs the political acts which then became secondary.
It has always been difficult to recognize a defeat, and these sources had to explain to his readers this terrible failure. At all times, laconicism has prevailed in order to confess on parchment or on paper these painful truths. For the Latin chronicles in question, the irritation is such that the authors always lazily designate the enemy; “the heretics”, or “the Chaldeans”, or even “the Arabs”, but also the “Saracen”; and there is no hint of a foreign state sending its troops. These sources are also always of a local nature, which never go beyond the limits of their determined region, and from which it is difficult to deduce a global vision, at the level of the peninsula.
Thus, after having been intimidated in their vanquished condition, the Latin chroniclers recovered from the 9th century their style which dominated in the previous texts of the Visigoth era. They have the same texture where the marvelous and the good fairy tales spread. Here a typical example, in 587, when Récarède 1st abjured arianism, supporters of this heresy revolted. These Arians lived in the regions called “the Pyrenean entity”, and took up arms in Catalonia and Septimania. According to the testimony of Juan de Biclara, who wrote a year before he died, in 590, they were supported by Counts Granisto and Wildigerio, assisted by Bishop Atalogo. The king who resided in Toledo sent Duke Claudius, governor of Lusitania, to subdue them, and succeeded in crushing this insurrection. According to these chronicles, the heretics were 70,000 and the victorious army…..300!
During the years of the invasion took place a battle in Covadonga, close to caves dedicated to the Virgin, according to Alfonso III of Asturias. The Christians are opposed to an enemy successively named, “Chaldean”, then “Arab”. They put them to flight, 124,000 soldiers were struck down, and 70,000 managed to escape into the mountains of Asturias. Harassed in a valley that could be that of Deva, a piece of mountain collapses on them and bury them. This kind of testimony is far from being an exception, and this column reassures us further: “Do not think that it is about a stupid miracle or a fable. Remember how on the shores of the Red Sea, heaven saved Israel from the persecution of the Egyptians; the same thing happened when a huge mountain mass crushed those Arabs who were chasing the Lord’s Church. »
In an anonymous text subsequent to the History of the Goths, one can read an extravagant story of Muhammad. This text had been attributed to Ildéfonce, but we know today that it was written 200 or 300 years after his death, around 667: “Part of what will continue includes the history of Muhammad, it is said that he came to Spain to preach his errors, which he took up a pulpit at Cordova. Saint Isidore had gone to Rome and knew on his return that the new preacher was in his region, and sent ministers to arrest him; but the demon appeared before this prophet and warned him so that he could flee…”
The mythical meeting between Muza and Tariq
Very romantic Berber sources
These chronicles after the 11th century Muslim counter-reform have the common feature of great difficulty in extracting authentic historical events from them. We are still in the realm of fiction, but this time, more fictionalized than the Latin chronicles, we find a series of historically incoherent short stories, judge for yourself… Few months after having heroically conquered Spain, Moussa and Tariq had a violent argument. So much so that they both saw themselves obliged to go to Damascus to justify themselves before the Caliphate, leaving the country abandoned without the command of a recognized authority, which is already unlikely. Do not imagine that the causes of this altercation are a difference of opinion or serious political problems that the domination of such a large territory could constrain, none of that. The quarrel had as its cause the ownership of a large table of great value found in the treasury of the Visigoths found in Toledo. It is a table that belonged to King Solomon. Walid Ibn Abd Al Malik (668-715) had just died, and his brother Sulayman succeeded him to the throne and resolved the dispute. Tariq accused his boss, he was the one who had found this marvelous piece of furniture. Moussa, jealous of his exploits, had not only taken this good from him, he had also put a cross in his face with a riding crop. Moussa defended himself by replying that it was deserved because Tariq had constantly broken discipline. Tariq then says Moussa hit him because he was missing a foot under the table. Who was the first to find this priceless object? Suddenly, Tariq took out of his coat the irrefutable proof that he was the first to have found it……he had in his hand the leg of this table, which he himself had broken…
Musa was condemned. As a reward for his conquests of North Africa and Spain, and despite his old age, he received a flogging with sticks which finished him off. For Ajbar Machmua, he would have simply paid a large fine but the disappointment would also have killed Moussa. Tariq took his table and left, who knows where. Like Moussa, Tariq evaporates from history, since neither of the two conquerors will return one day to Spain, when their presence seems essential to put an end to the rivalries which heated their subordinates. According to what is said and what is known, these quarrels between Arabs turned into civil wars that lasted no less than 70 years
The first Andalusian chronicles are of Egyptian tradition
The very first Andalusian chronicler, Abdelmalik Ibn Habib, himself tells in his historical texts how he went to Alexandria to study with Egyptian masters. This happened during the first half of the 9th century, and the Hispano-Muslim admitted that the role of Moussa in the conquest of Spain had been transmitted by a wise man whose name he kept silent. The role of Tariq had been transmitted by an author of the same nationality: Abd Allah Ibn Wahb. Thus from a documentary point of view, the first Muslim Spaniard who describes the conquests of Spain, around 100 years later, perpetuates Egyptian traditions on the subject. These Egyptian sources can sometimes demonstrate influences from the Septuagint (or Bible) and the retelling of texts older than Islam. Taking up old myths and naively perpetuating them is found in all periods of history. And the Muslims did not break the rule.
In the Egyptian chronicles of Ibn Abd Al Hakam (803-871) we can read: “When the Muslims took over the island, the only inhabitants they found were men who worked in the vineyards. They were captured. Then they killed one of them, skinned it and cooked it in the presence of the others (Christians). At the same time, they cooked another meat in another vessel, and when it was ready, they secretly threw away the man’s meat and had the other meat served. The other workers in the vineyards seeing this did not doubt that the others were eating the meat of their companion. They were released and informed all over Spain that the Muslims ate human flesh and told what had happened with the man of the vines. »
This Egyptian text will serve as a great source of inspiration for later Arab and Berber chroniclers. Let us remember, for example, that Ajbar Machmua described to us the capture of Mérida by the Arabs, -and the trick of the changing beard-, and that the term “man-eater” was mentioned. Ibn Hadari says that Prince Ibrahim, founder of the Aghlabid dynasty, had also greatly benefited from this “trick” to conquer a large part of the Maghreb of which he was sovereign in 809. Since these dates, this myth of the cannibal has been part of folklore. universal, thus, later, when the crusaders leave to hunt the infidels of the Holy Lands, they take up this legend on their own account.
Stories about Moussa can convert him into a biblical prophet, the texts of Abdelmalik Ibn Habib describe “how Moussa’s prayers caused the walls of an enemy fortress to fall on itself, like those of Joshua’s trumpets. “, according to Dozy.
For these reasons, Arab and Berber sources have little credibility. None of them explain how the invasion of Spain happened, in fact historical events do not seem to interest these chroniclers, we are here to entertain! From this surely comes the very severe judgment of the historian Gauthier: “Except for a half-westerner like the great Ibn Khaldoun, the so-called Arab historians are poor analysts, devoid of critical judgment, absurd, dry, illegible. It’s simple: there has never been a history in the East. It is much more certain that Arab historians have never dared to question Muslim prejudices. The fundamental texts of Islam, for example, have never been analyzed. It was thus necessary to wait until 1953 for an Arabist, Régis Blachère to risk such a task.
In search of historical context
What can we deduce, after this brief overview over the meager historical sources available testifying to the conquest of Islam?
-To date, there is no evidence of a cause and effect relationship between a military act, -if it really existed- and the presence in Spain of an Arab-Andalusian culture, apart from myths.
-The historical testimonies of the religious, cultural and political events surrounding the “Muslim conquests” from the 7th century to the 8th century have completely disappeared, whether for the Arabs, the Byzantines and other Christians. That is to say that there is no contemporary testimony to this expansion of Islam, thus betraying a time of immense religious tensions, where all the documents would have been destroyed, of which the Christian Church and Islam have each on their side, left no traces.
-The Christian and Muslim sources begin to comment in the 9th century on these previous events of around 150 years, both are expressed in a phantasmagorical and fabulous way.
It will be demonstrated later, how this evolution of religious ideas was carried out in the Iberian Peninsula in parallel to the same movement that was occurring simultaneously in the East and resulted in a pre-Muslim way of thinking; which allowed the doctrine of Muhammad to spread rapidly in a favorable atmosphere. And we can say that there are many more historical testimonies demonstrating this evolution of ideas, than for the analysis of the alleged invasion.
There is for example a Latin literature whose reading makes comprehensible the opposition which divided the Iberian peninsula between the partisans of the Trinity and the partisans of the uniqueness, a rivalry which can be observed since the IV th century until half of the ninth century. The authenticity of these texts is indisputable. Copies made during the life of their authors, written in excellent manuscripts, are preserved in the cathedral libraries of Spain. They make up a unique whole. For their originality, their quality, and their quantity, these texts are distinguished from other sources written during the High Middle Ages. Composed in Latin, for the most part, these sources belong to Christian orthodoxy, although some heterodox writings have been preserved. One finds in this literature, the documentation necessary to follow the evolution of the ideas which led to what will be named here the “Arian syncretism”, a mode of thought which will determine the facts of VIII and IX ème centuries; that is to say the crystallization of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula.
We didn’t save Priscillian’s works by chance. The heterodox works that would have allowed us to follow in the footsteps of a pre-Muslim state to Islam have been systematically destroyed. We know that the Arian books were burned after the conversion of Recarede
As the Spaniards took two centuries to dominate Arabic and write it, the texts of the 8th and 9th centuries which could interest us are written in Latin. But the Christians who lived with the Muslims, the Mozarabs, destroyed these Arian books whenever they had them in their hands to prevent the contagion of their evil spells. So, when the texts written by pre-Muslims or Spanish Muslims appeared, this way of thinking called “Arian syncretism” had disappeared. The missing link went up in smoke. To reconstruct it, as happens very often in the history of religious ideas, one must rely on the arguments used by its opponents to combat these ideas, naturally tendentious arguments. A part of the Mozarabic Christian literature has been preserved, which was written by authors living mostly in Cordoba, during the middle of the 9th century, in codices in excellent condition. They form a decisive basis for achieving our objective. These authors and these codices will be brought together in a whole that will be called the School of Cordoba.
To be continued…