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Zoo and Wild Animal Dentistry
Zoo and Wild Animal Dentistry

Edited by

Peter P. Emily DDS

Certification Periodontics, Endodontics, and Oral Surgery
Hon. Dipl. American Veterinary Dental College

Edward R. Eisner AB, DVM

Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College
Founding AVDC Certificate Holder Zoo and Wildlife Dentistry
This edition first published 2021
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Emily, Peter, editor. | Eisner, Edward R., editor.
Title: Zoo and wild animal dentistry / edited by Peter P Emily, Edward R
Eisner.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Blackwell, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020028100 (print) | LCCN 2020028101 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119545811 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119545859 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119545873 (epub)
Subjects: MESH: Dental Care–veterinary | Dentistry–veterinary | Animals,
Zoo | Animals, Wild
Classification: LCC SF867 (print) | LCC SF867 (ebook) | NLM SF 867 | DDC
636.089/76–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028100
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020028101

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: Courtesy of Edward R. Eisner

Set in 9.5/12.5pt STIXTwoText by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to the Peter Emily International
Veterinary Dental Foundation
and
its ongoing improvement of oral health in captive animals worldwide
 vii

Contents

List of Contributors xi
Forewordxiii
About Peter Emily xv
Acknowledgementsxvii
Introduction xix

Part I A History of Veterinary Dentistry and of Teeth, and Dental Therapy of Wild Animals 1

1 History of Veterinary Dentistry, Including Development of Oral and Dental Treatment of Wild and Zoo,
Safari Park and Refuge Animals 3
Colin E. Harvey

2 Odontology: A History of Teeth 7

Peter P. Emily

3 Special Considerations Regarding Equipment and Instruments 11

4 Dental Form and Function as it Relates to Dental Therapy of Wild Animals  19

5 Carnivore Dental Therapy 29

5A Conventional (Standard/Normograde) Endodontics Overview 29
5B Surgical Endodontics 39
5C Periodontics 43
5D Caries and Endodontic Access Preparation and Restoration 44
5E Combined Endodontic-Periodontal Therapy 45
5F Oral Surgery 48

6 Herbivore Endodontic Therapy 59

6A Standard and Surgical Endodontics 59

7 Marsupial and Herbivore Abscesses 63

8 Elephant Dentistry 65
8A Tusk Therapy for Hog, Walrus, Elephant and Hippopotamus 66
8B Practical Elephant Dentistry 69
Gerhard Steenkamp
viii Contents

9 Primate Dentistry  79
9A Endodontics 79
9B Caries and Restorative Dentistry 82
9C Periodontal Disease 86

10 Avian Fractured and Maloccluded Beaks 87

10A Beak Fracture Repair: Materials and Methods 88
10B Orthobeakics 92
10C Beak Repair for Amphibians 97
10D Beakistry: Orthognathic Corrections and Surgical Repair of Avian Beaks 99
Roberto S. Fecchio

11 Marine Mammal Dentistry 119

Steven E. Holmstrom

12 Practical Anesthesia for Captive Wild Animals  131

Felicia Knightly

Part II Pertinent Dental Information, of 352 Species most often treated in Sanctuaries and Zoos 139

13 Carnivores: Families: Felid, Bear, Canid, Racoon, Weasel, Civet, Hyena 141
13A Big Cats 143
13B Small Cats 151

14 The Bear Family 155

14A Big Bears 155
14B Small Bears 159

15 The Primates 161

15A Lower Primates: Prosimians: Prosimii – Long Face, Prominent Whiskers, Slightly
Sideways-Looking Eyes, Nocturnal 162
15B Higher Primates 166

16 Tree Shrews 177

17 The Dog Family 179

18 The Racoon Family 185

19 The Weasel Family: Weasels and Polecats 189

20 The Mongoose Family: Viverridae Civets and Genets Binturong 195

21 The Hyena Family: Strictly Carnivores 199

22 Marsupials 201

23 Larg Herbivores: The Ungulates 209

23A Primitive Ungulates 209
23B The Hoofed Mammals 213
 Contents ix

24 Small Herbivores: Rodents  245

24A Squirrel-Like Rodents 245
24B Mouse-Like Rodents 250
24C Cavy-Like Rodents 255
24D Other Cavy-Like Rodents 258
24E Old World Porcupines 259

25 Lagomorphs 261

26 Elephant-Shrew 265

27 Insectivores 267

28 Edentates 271

29 Bats 275

30 Monotremes 277

31 Marine Mammals 279

31A Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins 279
31B Seals and Sea Lions 283
31C Sea Cows and Manatees 287

32 Amphibians 289

33 Reptiles 291

34 Avian 295
34A Birds of Prey 295
34B Scavangers 298
34C Psittacine Birds 301
34D Ground-nesting Birds and Shorebirds 303
34E Aquatic Birds 308

Appendix I Taxonomy 315

Appendix II Types of Dentition 317
Appendix III Dental Formulas 319
Appendix IV Feeding Adaptations 333

Glossary of Dental Terms  335

Further Reading 339

Index341
 xi

­List of Contributors

Edward R. Eisner AB, DVM Steven E. Holmstrom, BS, DVM

Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College
Founding AVDC Certificate Holder Zoo and Wildlife Founding AVDC Certificate Holder Zoo and Wildlife
Dentistry Dentistry
Castle Rock, CO, USA San Pedro, CA, USA

Peter P. Emily, DDS Felicia Knightly, DVM

Certification Periodontics, Endodontics, and Oral Surgery Senior Veterinarian
Hon. Dipl. American Veterinary Dental College Memphis Zoo
Lakewood, CO, USA Memphis, TN, USA

Roberto S. Fecchio, DVM, MS, PhD Gerhard Steenkamp, BSc, BVSc, MSc, PhD
Founding AVDC Certificate Holder Zoo and Wildlife Founding AVDC Certificate Holder Zoo and Wildlife
Dentistry Dentistry
ABRAVAS, PhD and MSC by University of São Paulo Associate Professor Department of Companion Animal
São Paulo, Brazil Clinical Studies
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria
Colin E. Harvey, BVSc, FRCVS Pretoria, South Africa
Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College
Diplomate American College of Veterinary Surgeons
Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Dentistry School of
Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA, USA
 xiii

­Foreword

I am pleased to write this foreword for Drs. Emily and would like to see an animal on display with an intact
Eisner’s textbook, the first entirely dedicated to zoo and dentition.
wild animal dentistry. Though the use of non‐evidence based and non‐FDA‐
Ever since I met Dr. Emily for the first time in the 1980s, approved materials and instruments should not be pro-
we have enjoyed stimulating discussions on comparative moted, it is an unavoidable fact that procedures on
odontology and I am grateful to him for introducing me to non‐domestic species may require medications and instru-
Osborn’s concept of tribosphenic molar teeth. I also share ments that are not FDA‐approved for use in those species.
with him and Dr. Eisner a strong interest in oral pathology In addition, some dental materials, such as MTA, are cost‐
occurring in animals and a curiosity about natural history prohibitive to use in large volumes; hence “Dr. Emily’s
in general, and its relation to dentition and dental pathol- MTA’s recipe”, which I found to exemplify this book:
ogy in particular. Since then, my research and teaching empirical, practical and helpful. The practicality and help-
interests have directed me more to comparative dental fulness are important, given the fact that getting the proce-
pathology and odontology, respectively, while the authors dure done in a timely fashion is especially important in
have spearheaded clinical dentistry in zoo and wild ani- these animals, in order to minimize the duration of
mals, for which they should be commended. anesthesia.
Dentistry is, or should be, an essential part of the veteri- This is an important textbook and addition to the veteri-
nary care of zoo and wild animals in captivity, both in nary dental and zoological medicine literature. While this
terms of preventative care as part of their long‐term hus- book is not an authoritative textbook on comparative
bandry, and in addressing dental conditions as they occur. odontology, like Berkovitz and Shellis’ The Teeth of
The latter is the focus of this book. Great advances have Mammalian Vertebrates (2018), nor a historical treatise on
been made in the practice of dentistry in domestic animals comparative dental pathology, like Colyer’s Variations and
over the past decades. Zoo and wild animals should also Diseases of the Teeth of Animals (1936), it is a very practical
benefit from these advances. There is no reason to believe compilation of the authors’ many years of clinical experi-
that pain of dental origin, be it acute or chronic, is any less ence treating dental problems in captive wild animals.
severe and debilitating in animals than it is in humans, Veterinary dentists may get called upon to see one of a
greatly affecting their quality of life. The basic premise of species once in their career. The authors of this text have
being a veterinarian is to prevent and address pain in ani- seen at least one case of the diseases and species described,
mals entrusted to our care. The stakes and challenges are and have generously shared their experience with their
particularly high in zoo and wildlife dentistry. Even under readers.
the best of circumstances and with the best of intentions of
the care‐takers, captivity of wild animals typically is associ- Frank J. M. Verstraete
ated with unphysiological conditions in terms of environ- DrMedVet BVSc MMedVet Dipl AVDC Dipl EVDC Dipl
ment and diet. Wild animals in captivity must be housed in ECVS AVDC‐ZWD FF‐AVDC‐OMFS
safe facilities – unfortunately, the combination of fences
and boredom can cause significant dental injury. The Professor of Dentistry and Oral Surgery
human‐animal bond in this case has two components: the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences
zoo’s animal care‐taker has a very strong personal bond School of Veterinary Medicine
while the zoo’s administration and the public typically University of California—Davis
 xv

­About Peter Emily

art of case assessment and therapeutic planning is the result

of many more years of astute observation and creative appli-
cation of those technical skills. These skills are never needed
more than when dealing with the complex problems of large
and small wildlife mammals and birds that are the residents
of sanctuaries, zoos, and the natural habitats throughout the
world. This is where Peter Emily excels, and this is where he
is most comfortable.

­1982

For eight years people who knew of both Pete and my inter-
est in veterinary dentistry kept telling us we should meet
and finally we did. It was in November, 1982. Peter was a
certified national dog show judge. He performed dentistry
on dogs and cats and sometimes on the animals at the
Figure 1 Ed Eisner and Peter Emily, on Mulholland Drive,
Burbank, CA USA, after completing a Dental Rescue in southern Denver Zoo, Denver, Colorado USA. In 1982, at the inaugu-
California, USA, 2009. ration of the new animal hospital at the Denver Zoo, some-
one who knew both Pete and I, spotted us at the soiree and
Peter Emily, a practicing dentist for people, has studied com- introduced us to each other. That was the beginning of a
parative odontology and has a passion for helping improve many‐decade friendship. In February of 1983, Peter and I
the oral health of wild, as well as pet animals since 1969. He travelled together to the Western States Veterinary
has dedicated decades of his life to improving oral health and Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada where the American
comfort, especially for captive animals; animals that have Veterinary Dental Society was having one of its first meet-
been rescued from abusive, illegal, or financially unsustain- ings. A few of the pioneers of the veterinary dental evolu-
able situations and placed in “retirement facilities,” sanctuar- tion, Gary Beard, Ben Colmery, Tom Mulligan, Don Ross,
ies where they can safely live the rest of their life to the fullest. and Chuck Williams, were delivering dental presentations.
He was my mentor, providing me with a dental education far Peter and I had found our home; people who spoke our
exceeding any the finest veterinary schools had to offer in the language. These were not the only people dabbling in vet-
1980s and beyond. I will always be indebted to Peter for erinary dentistry at the time, but they were among the first.
teaching me the technical nuances of dental practice, but Bob Wiggs, Colin Harvey, Sandra Manfra Marretta, Keith
even more so for the many dental insights that help elevate a Grove, Steve Holmstrom, Ron Gammon, Gary Goldstein,
good dental practice to that of one providing exceptional out- Ken Lyon, and Chris Visser were also among the pioneers.
comes. The key to his brilliance and the value of his teachings They and Pete and I all bonded quickly. We all felt the call-
has, even more than the technical education, been the shar- ing, we were all accomplished photographers and could
ing of the art of case assessment and treatment planning. The share our work visually, we all didn’t mind travelling to
technical aspect of good dentistry is a cookbook science, spread the word, and we all knew that we had something
achievable in several years of diligent study. The successful important to give to veterinary medicine.
xvi ­About Peter Emil

Pete came to my small animal practice every Thursday received a significant and unexpected return on an earlier
for the next three years. He would identify dental problems investment.
while performing as a dog show judge, and have the own- Pete, age 73, viewed this as a chance to fulfill his dream,
ers schedule for dental treatment at my office. I would also to help captive animals throughout the world, and he
identify dogs and cats within my practice that needed wanted some close friends to help manage the project.
advanced‐level dental care and schedule them for First, with Peter’s participation, we enlisted Steve
Thursdays. Peter was an artist. He was a real artist. He not Holmstrom, veterinary dentist from San Carlos, CA, and
only performed excellent root canal therapy, gold crown Ron Ferrendelli, a local fellow dentist and former class-
work, and periodontal surgery, he also made bronze sculp- mate of Peter, along with Bert Dodd, another veterinary
tures and gold pendant jewelry from dental gold. Weekly, dentist then of Austin, TX. We established a plan to gener-
for three years, I learned dentistry by the side of Peter. Peter ate enough working capital to launch a small private foun-
was, in reality, a frenetic artist, but he was not a business- dation while conserving his assets. The Board of Directors
man. He cared little about fees, which are so very impor- was expanded and membership adjusted. Susanne Pilla
tant for the survival of any for‐profit practice. He just was hired as Managing Director of the private foundation
wanted to help the animals. formed in 2005, and which in turn became the public
Peter would not have anything to do with fees for ser- 501(c)(3) charitable Peter Emily International Veterinary
vices, and I arranged for Peter to take home the fee for the Dental Foundation (PEIVDF). Three years after the birth
dental procedure itself, while I retained the fees for the of his idea, Peter’s Foundation had three sets of portable
examination, anesthesia, hospitalization and dispensed dental equipment and thirty clinicians who donated their
medications. It resulted in approximately a 50:50 split, with time, talent and energy several times a year to mount res-
Pete reluctantly letting me stuff a check into his shirt cue missions to animal sanctuaries and zoos throughout
pocket as he packed up to leave my office each week. the United States, providing free dental care to African
Pete was a very significant positive force in the accelera- lions, tigers, mountain lions, bears, primates, herbivores,
tion of the evolution of veterinary dentistry. A number of birds, and other captive animals. As of writing this book,
us had been performing advanced‐level animal dentistry the PEIVDF has a thirteen‐person Board of Directors, and
since the 1970s, but Pete helped further educate the pio- nine‐person Advisory Committee to help plan rescue mis-
neers in veterinary dentistry and gave us the knowledge to sions. Today, the Foundation is setting up its most ambi-
improve our animal dental services. Pete was instrumental tious undertaking so far ‐ affiliating with operations in
in creating the first two important examinations; first the South Africa. Peter’s dream is becoming a reality.
qualifying examination for the newly formed Academy of Peter Emily has received national and international rec-
Veterinary Dentistry (AVD) in 1986, and, second, the quali- ognition, including from the American Animal Hospital
fying examination for the American Veterinary Dental Association. He is also the namesake of veterinary dental
College (AVDC) in 1989. He lectured throughout the world, awards distributed at the Annual Veterinary Dental Forum
teaching and preaching the value of advanced level dental each year. He will long be recognized as a giant in the field
care for animals. of veterinary dentistry and as a very special person in the
hearts of all who have known him. He is one of a kind. His
knowledge of comparative odontology is immense. It is a
­ 005: The beginning of the Peter
2 great privilege for me to be able to help him compile this
Emily International Veterinary Dental information for all to see and share and for the benefit of
Foundation animals now and in the future that will be the benefactors
of this shared information.
The late Robert Bruce Wiggs of Dallas, TX, another of the
original veterinary dental pioneers in its modern evolution, Edward R. Eisner, AB, DVM
was in Denver. Pete invited Bob and myself to coffee at a Diplomate American Veterinary Dental College
breakfast restaurant. He shared with us that he had recently Founding Certificate Holder in Zoo and Wildlife Dentistry
 xvii

­Acknowledgements

We want to express appreciation to the members of the In 1983, Dr. Eisner and I attended the Western States
Foundation for Veterinary Dentistry, for their ongoing ded- Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada where we met
ication to improving and maintaining animal oral health. and joined forces with some of the veterinary dental pio-
neers including the speakers, Drs. Gary Beard, Ben
Colmery, Tom Mulligan and Chuck Williams, in what was
From Peter Emily to become a lifelong professional friendship and the organ-
ized beginning of the evolution of contemporary animal
I have had a lifelong passion devoted to helping animals. dentistry. It has continued to fuel my insatiable desire to
As a child, living with my grandparents Dominec and improve dental techniques practiced by veterinarians.
Josephine Primavera, I gained a culture of helping I also, wish to thank, among others, Drs. Colin Harvey
orphaned animals. We rescued injured birds and goats, as and Robert Bruce Wiggs, for their friendship and joint col-
well as stray dogs and cats in Denver, Colorado; splinted laboration in the pursuit of the advancement of veterinary
broken legs and wings, and nursed them back to health. I dental techniques and service.
applied to veterinary school, medical school and dental
school and had my choice of careers. My first choice was
veterinary medicine, but I was influenced by my peers to go From Edward Eisner
to dental school first, and then to veterinary school. As fate
would have it, marriage during dental school stalled my A number of people, in addition to Dr. Peter Emily, have
planned educational succession, but not my personal pas- been “father” figures in my life, influencing the pathway I
sion and studies of comparative dental anatomy and have traveled throughout my developing professional
pathology. career. At the age of 13, I knew I wanted to be a veterinar-
Dr. Father Trane, a Jesuit priest at Regis University was ian. Though, raised in New York State where my father and
influential throughout my formative years, encouraging his father before him were New York City Wall Street attor-
my humane curiosity regarding oral health in all species. I neys, I spent five teenage years in northwest Montana,
practiced human dentistry after graduating from Creighton under the influence and tutelage of a rancher and wilder-
School of Dentistry, Omaha, Nebraska in 1959. Shortly ness guide, Sam Wicker. It was through Sam that I gained a
after, I met Alan Krause, DVM. Both of us were certified true appreciation for hard work, individual responsibility,
dog show judges for the American Kennel Club and had completing tasks without complaining, and the ways of,
special interest in the dental standards for the many recog- and management of, large and sometimes unruly animals,
nized dog breeds. Dr. Krause made it possible and assisted including horses, mountain lions, wolves and bears in the
me in continuing my passionate pursuit for improving ani- mountains 100 miles beyond the convenience of the paved
mal oral health. road. My formative high school years were spent at The
In the 1970s, Dr. Richard Cambry, veterinarian at the Millbrook School for Boys, a boarding school in the rolling
Denver Zoological Gardens, invited me to consult and treat hills of Dutchess County, in upstate New York. There, my
dental disease in many of their exotic species, which I con- science teacher, and founder of The Millbrook School Zoo,
tinue to do. It has given me inspiration to continually Dr. Frank Trevor took me under his wing, teaching me sci-
develop improved dental techniques for the many species entific process, as well as the responsible care of the wild
of captive animals. zoo inhabitants that we managed. In the process of my
xviii ­Acknowledgement

maturation, I held summer jobs traveling throughout the Veterinary School, Professor Dr. Steven Roberts mentored
west as a livestock inspector for Oppenheimer Industries me. Among other helpful attributes, he was on the Cornell
(OI), the largest livestock management company in the veterinary school admissions committee, coach and vet-
United States, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and erinary caretaker of the Cornell polo team horses, and
managing cattle in 14 states. CEO of OI, Larry Oppenheimer, author and professor of equine obstetrics. I played polo
gave me freedom and independent responsibility as well as for him, managed the team after an injury and received
access to the genetic information of his prized Hereford guidance from him before taking my job as the livestock
show herd via the first computerized herd program which inspector. Dr. Francis Fox, professor of livestock medicine
was headquartered in Kansas City. This experience fur- and surgery at Cornell imprinted on me the importance
thered my interest in the scientific process of understand- of maintaining my skills in physical diagnosis, even in the
ing the power of genetics. I also worked as a farmhand for presence of rapidly advancing automated technology.
Ed Behrens, President of the Dairy Herd Improvement Throughout all of this, my father impressed upon me, by
Association of New York State, at his Highland Hills Dairy example, the importance of being ethical in my many
Farm, where Ed continued my tutelage in uncompromised pursuits. I am appreciative to all of these people, and oth-
and thorough work ethic, working the land daily from ers, who helped to shape my personal life as well as my
before dawn to after dark. professional profile that has spanned more than 55 years
My infatuation with the management of animals con- in a very rewarding professional career in the veterinary
tinued in my late teens and early 20 years, as I worked as medical profession, culminating in 40 years of immersion
a wilderness guide in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in in the evolution of advanced dental care for animals, and
northwest Montana and again in the Pipestone Wilderness most lately, in joining Peter Emily in his crusade to help
in Alberta, Canada where I rode 2500 miles in the sum- captive animals in the many sanctuaries, zoos and animal
mer of 1956. At Cornell University in the New York parks of the world.
 xix

Introduction

The purpose of this book is to educate the reader as to the reduction of chronic oral pain and stress experienced by
essence of therapeutic modalities and pitfalls when per- these animals who are less often treated.
forming dentistry on captive animals in sanctuaries, zoos Increased knowledge of the species-specific anatomy,
or in the field. To cover every aspect of dentistry, or every physiology and oral function will be invaluable in achiev-
species encountered, is beyond the scope of this book. We ing proper diagnosis and treatment. This does not reduce
have included the most frequent species and dental pathol- the importance of hands-on experience, as each case and
ogies that clinicians will see and be asked to treat. We hope each animal is unique. For example, the vast majority of
this work will expand wildlife animal dental knowledge, tiger upper canines have a bulbous apical root canal mor-
resulting in increased success of dental procedures in the phology with an extended apical delta at the root end ter-
field. minus. Thus, treatment for each species will be different,
It should be emphasized that dentistry and oral surgery and will require adaptation in the field.
is similar to other veterinary disciplines in that success of a Wildlife dentistry is infrequently encountered in veteri-
clinician is dependent on knowledge, expertise, equip- nary practice. The diverse dental findings as to endodontic
ment, and patient compliance. The same ingredients make morphology, occlusal, and radicular forms, tooth sizes, and
a good dentist as do a good surgeon, and the treatment for numbers of teeth all complicate exotic animal dentistry.
a number of oral conditions involve surgery. There are Difficulty in obtaining routine oral examination to inter-
unique endodontic morphologies present in various spe- cept developing problems and provide routine dental
cies, especially large felids, that make it essential that the maintenance is a large factor in maintaining or regaining
practitioner obtain hands-on tutoring before attempting oral health. Additionally, poor financial rewards, lack of
endodontic therapy for large felids. One should be well exotic animal dental knowledge and education, all contrib-
rested, well prepared, well equipped and well skilled, espe- ute to the challenges of providing successful oral care for
cially before attempting to treat wild animals in zoological these animals.
or sanctuary settings, where often, because of anesthetic All the dental disciplines practiced in human and small
risk, there will be only one opportunity to perform therapy. animal dentistry can be practiced in exotic animal or zoo
Well rested is self-explanatory. An alert, aware and ener- dentistry. However, the many dental morphological and
getic individual is one who can provide a smoothly exe- pathological differences seen in the various species create
cuted procedure. A well-prepared individual is one who treatment challenges that can extend far beyond routine
knows the protocol and instrumentation of planned proce- procedures. Dental problems can be multiple, complex,
dures, as well as that of alternative procedures that might and often unseen in domestic small animal dentistry.
be required. Skill comes with experience, and experience Therapy can be complicated by limited oral access in some
comes with practice. Additionally, the well-prepared clini- species. Most zookeepers are untrained in recognition of
cian will be well equipped. Using the appropriate instru- developing dental problems. This results in advanced den-
ments, well maintained, will help to lessen procedure time, tal pathology before the condition becomes clinically evi-
minimize patient discomfort and reassure the clinician dent. Because of advanced levels of pathology, therapy is
that they have performed a proper procedure in the best often more difficult and with uncertain prognosis for
way possible. success.
Through the skill of veterinary dentists, enhanced com- Zoo dentistry includes many and varied species. New
fort can be achieved for these animals who cannot help technologies are now beginning to be seen, or at least con-
themselves, and improved longevity can be realized by the templated, in the treatment of some of the large species. If
xx Introduction

we consider, for example, that an elephant tusk is an upper It is impractical, though possible, to develop successful
lateral incisor, with pulp tissue and an open apex, then we techniques for orthodontics, restoratives, crown coverage,
can pursue the possibility of endodontic therapy for and possibly bridge procedures in wildlife dentistry, but
affected tusks rather than the very difficult procedure of many oncology cases present unique therapeutic chal-
tusk extraction. lenges that can be managed with diagnostic and therapeu-
Avian species primarily present with lost or fractured tic help of oncology specialists.
beak segments or beak malocclusion resulting from poor
nutrition. Replacement of lost beak segments can be per-
formed with dental acrylic, threaded pins, ligature wire ­Periodontal Disease
and cyanoacrylate. Congenital or traumatic malocclusion
or “cross beak” is not uncommon, especially in psittacine Most forms of periodontal disease seen in domestic animals
birds. Active rubber orthodontic ligatures and threaded pin can be found in exotic animals, with treatment similar to
anchors can sometimes effectively correct this form of mal- that performed in humans. Primates display periodontal
occlusion. Like birds, the most common dental problem disease very similar to humans. Extensive periodontitis
seen in reptiles is oral trauma, and the same principles of with advanced tooth-supporting bone loss can also be
repair as employed in avian dentistry can be utilized. For severe in non-primates, especially so in orangutans, where
example, turtles, can present with “beak” fracture. Dental it is accompanied with the usual symptoms of bacterial
acrylics, threaded wire, and cyanoacrylate can rehabilitate infection and general malaise. Periodontal therapy is
these animals. Though not a dental procedure, the repair of diverse, ranging from simple prophylaxis to advanced surgi-
fractured turtle shells with dental materials is also a com- cal gingival flap procedures with bone augmentation, lat-
monly successful and practical procedure. eral sliding flaps, and advanced procedures that also include
An excellent example of advanced pathology with lim- surgical exodontia. Cases of gingival hyperplasia can be
ited therapy and success is seen in mandibular and maxil- treated with either electro-surgery or sharp dissection.
lary abscesses in herbivores and ruminants. Their dentition Many of the anatomical peculiarities and proposed treat-
is primarily selenodont, which has parallel rows of cres- ments in this book may not be found elsewhere in print, as
cent-shaped occlusal ridges that run in a mesial to distal they are the result of an accumulation of 50 years of per-
direction. Selenodont dentition is the principal dental form sonal hands-on treatment and personal experience while
in the order Artiodactyla, which includes most sheep, cat- working on thousands of animals among hundreds of spe-
tle, antelope, deer, camels, boars, and hogs. However, the cies. We still have much to learn, and with dedication we
animals most affected with mandibular/maxillary will continue to improve our ability to help the many spe-
abscesses are the Marsupialia, primarily kangaroos and cies that cannot help themselves as we provide better oral
wallabies. Their molar form is a rather primitive tribos- health, comfort and increased longevity in animals world-
phenic form – that is, having three basic cusps. They are wide. This book provides a foundation of information. We
the protocone (the lingual cusp of the upper molar – it is hope that future contributors will add to this information
generally narrow), the metacone (the posterior buccal in an ever-expanding source of information that will serve
cusp), and the paracone (the anterior buccal cusp). There to help improve and maintain improved oral health in the
are accessory cusps on metacone and paracone, termed many species of animals throughout the world.
metaconule and paraconule. These accessory cusps, such Finally, due to the constraints of length within the Table
as the metaconule, are very important in Artiodactyle mas- of Contents, it has not been possible to list the most com-
ticatory function. mon (but not inexhaustible) 352 species found in animal
The principal dental morphological difference between sanctuaries and zoos throughout the world. However, these
marsupials and placental species is the relative shape of the are listed in the index and should be easily identifiable,
external part of the molar. The other dental form found in helping all readers to identify the myriad of animals they
common herbivores is lophodont dentition. Lophodont den- may be called upon to examine and treat.
tition has parallel ridges that course across the entire coronal
width from lateral to medial. Lophodont dentition is found Peter P. Emily, DDS, Certification Periodontics,
in the order Perrisodactyla, as well as the families Tapiridae Endodontics, and Oral Surgery, Hon. Diplomate American
and Rhinocerotidae (the tapir and the rhinoceros). Veterinary Dental College
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authority he prosecuted his conquests; and Eudes had hitherto
regarded his demonstrations with even greater fear and aversion
than the periodical forays of the Saracens. Now, however, the
crestfallen Duke of Aquitaine sought the presence of his ancient foe,
did homage to him, and implored his aid. The practised eye and
keen intellect of Charles discerned at once the serious nature of the
impending danger, and with characteristic promptitude sought to
avert it. His soldiers, living only in camps and always under arms,
were ready to march at a moment’s notice. Soon a great army was
assembled, and, amidst the deafening shouts of the soldiery, the
general of the Franks, confident of the superiority of his followers in
endurance and discipline, advanced to meet the enemy. The latter,
discouraged by the bold front presented by the inhabitants of
Poitiers, who had been nerved to desperation by the memorable
example of Bordeaux, had, in the mean time, raised the siege, and
were marching towards Tours, attracted by the fame of the vast
wealth of the Church and Abbey of St. Martin. Upon an immense
plain between the two cities the rival hosts confronted each other.
This same region, the centre of France, still cherished the
remembrance of a former contest in which, centuries before, the
Goths and Burgundians under command of Ætius had avenged the
wrongs of Europe upon the innumerable hordes of Attila. Of good
augury and a harbinger of success was this former victory regarded
by the stalwart warriors of the North, now summoned a second time
to check the progress of the barbarian flood of the Orient. Widely
different in race, in language, in personal appearance, in religion, in
military evolutions and in arms, each secretly dreading the result of
the inevitable conflict and each unwilling to retire, for seven days the
two armies remained without engaging, but constantly drawn up in
battle array. Finally, unable to longer restrain the impetuosity of the
Arabs, Abd-al-Rahman gave orders for the attack. With loud cries the
light squadrons of Moorish cavalry, followed pell-mell by the vast
mob of foot soldiers, hurled themselves upon the solid, steel-clad
files of the Franks. But the latter stood firm—like a “wall of ice,” in
the quaint language of the ancient chronicler—the darts and arrows
of the Saracens struck harmlessly upon helmet and cuirass, while the
heavy swords and maces of the men-at-arms of Charles made
frightful havoc among the half-naked bodies of their assailants. Night
put an end to the battle, and the Franks, for the moment relieved
from an ordeal which they had sustained with a courage worthy of
their reputation, invoking the aid of their saints, yet not without
misgivings for the morrow, slept upon their arms. At dawn the
conflict was renewed with equal ardor and varying success until the
afternoon, when a division of cavalry under the Duke of Aquitaine
succeeded in turning the flank of the enemy, and began to pillage
his camp. As the tidings of this misfortune spread through the ranks
of the Moslems, large numbers deserted their standards and turned
back to recover their booty, far more valuable in their estimation
than even their own safety or the triumph of their cause. Great
confusion resulted; the retreat became general; the Franks
redoubled their efforts; and Abd-al-Rahman, endeavoring to rally his
disheartened followers, fell pierced with a hundred wounds. That
night, aided by the darkness, the Saracens silently withdrew, leaving
their tents and heavy baggage behind. Charles, fearful of
ambuscades, and having acquired great respect for the prowess of
his adversaries, whose overwhelming numbers, enabling them to
attack him in both front and rear, had seriously thinned his ranks,
declined the pursuit, and with the spoils abandoned by the Saracens
returned to his capital.
The Arabs have left us no account of the losses sustained in this
battle. The mendacious monks, however, to whom by reason of their
knowledge of letters was necessarily entrusted the task of recording
the events of the time, have computed the loss of the invaders at
three hundred and seventy-five thousand, probably thrice the
number of all the combatants engaged; while that of the Franks is
regarded as too insignificant to be mentioned. The very fact that
Charles was disinclined to take advantage of the condition of his
enemies loaded with plunder, deprived of their commander, and
dejected by defeat, shows of itself that his army must have greatly
suffered. The principal accounts that we possess of this battle,
whose transcendent importance is recognized by every student of
history, bear unmistakable evidence of the ecclesiastical partiality
under whose influence they were composed. Monkish writers have
exhausted their prolific imagination in recounting the miraculous
intervention of the saints and the prowess of the champions of the
Cross, which insured the preservation of Christianity. The Arabs,
however, usually accurate and minute even in the relation of their
misfortunes, have not paid the attention to this great event which its
effect upon their fortunes would seem to warrant. Many ignore it
altogether. Others pass it by with a few words. Some refer to it, not
as a stubbornly contested engagement, but as a rout provoked by
the disorders of an unwieldy multitude, inflamed with fanaticism,
divided by faction, impatient of discipline. From such meagre and
discordant materials must be constructed the narrative of one of the
most momentous occurrences in the history of the world.
An account of the crushing defeat of Poitiers having been
communicated to the Viceroy of Africa, he appointed Abd-al-Melik-
Ibn-Kattan, an officer of the African army, Emir of Spain, and,
presenting him with his commission, urgently exhorted him to
avenge the reverse which had befallen the Moslem arms. The
martial spirit of this commander, in whom the lapse of fourscore and
ten years had not sensibly impaired the vigor of his mind or the
activity of his body, was roused to enthusiasm by the prospect of an
encounter with the idolaters of the North. Detained for a time in
Cordova by the disturbances resulting from the disorganization of all
branches of the government, he attempted, at the head of the
remains of the defeated army and a reinforcement which had
accompanied him from Africa, to thread the dangerous passes of the
Pyrenees. But the time was ill-chosen; the rainy season was at hand;
and the Saracens, hemmed in by impassable torrents, fell an easy
prey to the missiles of an enterprising enemy. The march became a
series of harassing skirmishes; and it was with the greatest difficulty
that the Emir was enabled to extricate the remainder of his troops
from the snare into which his want of caution had conducted them.
Disgusted with the miscarriage of the expedition from whose results
so much had been expected, Obeydallah, Viceroy of Africa, promptly
deposed Abd-al-Melik, and nominated his own brother, Okbah-Ibn-
al-Hejaj, to the vacant position. A martinet in severity and routine,
Okbah enjoyed also a well-founded reputation for justice and
integrity. He soon became the terror of the corrupt and tyrannical
officials who infested the administration. He removed such as had
been prominent for cruelty, fraud, or incompetency. To all who were
guilty of peculation, or of even indirectly reflecting upon the honor
and dignity of the Khalif, he was inexorable. With a view to insuring
the safety of the highways, he formed a mounted police, the
Kaschefs, in which may be traced the germ of the Hermandad of the
fifteenth century and the modern Gendarmes and Civil Guards of
France and Spain. From this institution, extended to the frontiers of
Moslem territory as far as the Rhone, was derived the military
organization of the Ribat—the prototype of the knightly orders of
Calatrava, Alcantara, and Santiago, which played so conspicuous a
part in the Reconquest. Okbah established a court in every village,
so that all honest citizens might enjoy the protection of the law. His
fostering care also provided each community with a school sustained
by a special tax levied for that purpose. Devout to an almost
fanatical degree, he erected a mosque whenever the necessities of
the people seemed to demand it, and, thoroughly alive to the
advantages of a religious education, he attached to every place of
worship a minister who might instruct the ignorant in the doctrines
of the Koran and the duties of a faithful Mussulman. He repressed
with an iron hand the ferocious spirit of the vagrant tribes of
Berbers, whose kinsmen in Africa had, in many battles, formerly
experienced the effects of his valor and discipline. By equalizing the
taxation borne by different communities, he secured the gratitude of
districts which had hitherto been oppressed by grievous impositions,
rendered still more intolerable by the rapacity of unprincipled
governors. No period in the history of the emirate was distinguished
by such important and radical reforms as that included in the
administration of Okbah-Ibn-al-Hejaj.
The Berbers, having engaged in one of their periodical revolts in
Africa, Obeydallah, unable to make headway against them, sent a
despatch requiring the immediate attendance of Okbah. The latter,
at the head of a body of cavalry, crossed the strait, and, after a
decisive battle, put the rebels to flight. His services were found so
indispensable by the Viceroy that he kept him near his person in the
capacity of councillor for four years, while he still enjoyed the title
and emoluments of governor of Spain. In the meantime, the
greatest disorders prevailed in the Peninsula. The salutary reforms
which had employed the leisure and exercised the abilities of the
prudent Viceroy were swept away; the old order of things was
renewed; and the provinces of the emirate were disgraced by the
revival of feuds, by the oppression of the weak, by the neglect of
agriculture, by unchecked indulgence in peculation, and by the
universal prevalence of anarchy and bloodshed.
The dread of Charles Martel and the ruthless barbarians under his
command was wide-spread throughout the provinces of Southern
France. Their excesses appeared the more horrible when contrasted
with the tolerant and equitable rule of the Saracens who garrisoned
the towns of Septimania. The Provençal, whose voluptuous habits
led him to avoid the hardships of the camp, and whose religious
ideas, little infected with bigotry, saw nothing repulsive in the law of
Islam, determined to seek the aid of his swarthy neighbors of the
South. As Charles had already ravaged the estates of Maurontius,
Duke of Marseilles, only desisting when recalled by a revolt of the
Saxons, that powerful noble, whose authority extended over the
greater part of Provence, in anticipation of his return, entered into
negotiations with Yusuf-Ibn-Abd-al-Rahman, wali of Narbonne; a
treaty was concluded, by the terms of which the Arabs were invited
to assume the suzerainty of Provence, many towns were ceded to
them, and the counts rendered homage to the Moslem governor,
who, in order to discharge his portion of the obligation and afford
protection to his new subjects, assembled his forces upon the line of
the northern frontier. It was at this time that Okbah was summoned
to quell the rebellion of the Berbers just as he was upon the point of
advancing to secure, by a powerful reinforcement, this valuable
addition to his dominions.
 Early in the year 737, Charles, having intimidated his enemies and
secured a temporary peace, made preparations for an active
campaign in Provence. Driving the Arabs out of Lyons, he advanced
to the city of Avignon, whose natural position was recognized by
both Franks and Saracens not only as a place of extraordinary
strength but as the key of the valley of the Rhone. Experience and
contact with their more civilized neighbors, the Italians, had
instructed the Franks in the use of military engines; and,
notwithstanding the desperate resistance of the Arab garrison, ably
seconded by the inhabitants, Avignon was taken by storm. The
population was butchered without mercy, and Charles, having
completely glutted his vengeance by burning the city, left it a heap
of smoking ruins.
Having been delayed by the stubborn opposition of Avignon, and
urged by the clamors of his followers who thirsted for the rich spoils
of Septimania, the Frankish general, leaving the fortified town of
Arles in his rear, marched directly upon Narbonne. Thoroughly
appreciating the political and military importance of this stronghold,
the capital of their possessions in France, the Arabs had spared
neither labor nor expense to render it impregnable. The city was
invested and the siege pressed with vigor, but the fortifications
defied the efforts of the besiegers and little progress was made
towards its reduction. An expedition sent to reinforce it, making the
approach by sea and attempting to ascend the river Aude, was foiled
by the vigilance of Charles; the boats were stopped by palisades
planted in the bed of the stream; the Saracens, harassed by the
enemy’s archers, were despatched with arrows or drowned in the
swamps; and, of a considerable force, a small detachment alone
succeeded in cutting its way through the lines of the besiegers and
entering the city. The temper of the Franks was not proof, however,
against the undaunted resolution of the Arab garrison. Unable to
restrain the growing impatience of his undisciplined levies, Charles
reluctantly abandoned the siege and endeavored to indemnify
himself for his disappointment by the infliction of all the unspeakable
atrocities of barbarian warfare upon the territory accessible to his
arms. Over the beautiful plains of Provence and Languedoc, adorned
with structures which recalled the palmiest days of Athenian and
Roman genius, and whose population was the most polished of
Western Europe, swept the fierce cavalry of the Alps and the Rhine.
Agde, Maguelonne, and Béziers were sacked. The city of Nîmes,
whose marvellous relics of antiquity are still the delight of the
student and the antiquary, provoked the indignation of the invader
by these marks of her intellectual superiority and former greatness.
Her walls were razed; her churches plundered; her most eminent
citizens carried away as hostages; her most splendid architectural
monuments delivered to the flames. The massive arches of the
Roman amphitheatre defied, however, the puny efforts of the
enraged barbarian; but their blackened stones still exhibit the traces
of fire, an enduring seal of the impotent malice of Charles Martel
impressed in the middle of the eighth century.
In this memorable invasion the Arab colonists do not seem to
have suffered so much as the indigenous population, which had long
before incurred the enmity of the Franks. The ecclesiastical order
met with scant courtesy at the hands of the idolaters. Despising the
terrors of anathema and excommunication, Charles did not hesitate
to appropriate the wealth of the Church wherever he could find it.
Having inflicted all the damage possible upon the subjects and allies
of the Khalif in Provence, the Franks, loaded with booty and driving
before them a vast multitude of captives chained together in
couples, returned in triumph to their homes.
This occupation of the Franks proved to be but temporary. The
garrisons left in the towns whose walls were intact were insufficient
to overawe the populace exasperated by the outrages it had just
sustained. The Duke of Marseilles, seconded by the wali of Arles,
easily regained control of the country around Avignon. But the return
of Charles during the following year with his ally Liutprand, King of
the Lombards, and a large army, not only recovered the lost territory
but took Arles, hitherto exempt from capture, and drove the
Saracens beyond the Rhone, which river for the future became their
eastern boundary, a limit they were destined never again to pass.
 The absence of Okbah encouraged the spirit of rebellion, ever rife
in the Peninsula. He had hardly returned before the arts of intrigue
and the discontent of the populace raised up a formidable rival to his
authority. Abd-al-Melik-Ibn-Kattan, who had formerly been Emir, now
usurped that office. In the civil war which followed, the fortunes of
Abd-al-Melik soon received a powerful impulse by the death of his
competitor at Carcassonne.
We now turn to the coast of Africa, a region which from first to
last has exerted an extraordinary and always sinister influence over
the destinies of the Mohammedan empire in Europe. The intractable
character of the Berbers, and their aversion to the restraints of law
and the habits of civilized life, had defied the efforts of the ablest
soldiers and negotiators to control them. In consequence, the
dominant Arab element was not disposed to conciliate savages who
recognized no authority but that of force, and imposed upon them
the most oppressive exactions, prompted partly by avarice and partly
by tribal hatred. The impetus of Berber insurrection was
communicated by contact and sympathy to the settlements of their
kindred in Spain, where the spirit of insubordination under a less
severe government made its outbreaks more secure, and, at the
same time, more formidable. Obeydallah, the present Viceroy, was
influenced by these feelings of scorn even more than a majority of
his countrymen. A true Arab, educated in the best schools of Syria,
of energetic character and bigoted impulses, he regarded the
untamable tribesmen of Africa as below the rank of slaves. While
collector of the revenue in Egypt he had provoked a rebellion of the
Copts on account of an arbitrary increase of taxes, levied solely
because the tributaries were infidels. Under his rule the lot of the
Berbers became harder than ever. Their flocks, which constituted
their principal wealth, were wantonly slaughtered to provide wool for
the couches of the luxurious nobility of Damascus. Their women
were seized, to be exposed in the slave-markets of Cairo and
Antioch. Their tributes were doubled at the caprice of the governor,
in whose eyes the life of a misbeliever was of no more consideration
than that of a wild beast, for, being enjoyed under protest, it could
be forfeited at the will of his superior. Day by day the grievances of
the Berbers became more unendurable, and the thirst for liberty and
vengeance kept pace with the ever-increasing abuses which had
provoked it. At first the tribes, while professedly Mussulman, in
reality remained idolaters, fetich-worshippers, the pliant tools of
conjurers and charlatans. Over the whole nation a priesthood—by
snake-charming, by the interpretation of omens, by spurious
miracles, by the arts of sorcery—had acquired unbounded influence;
and the names of these impostors, canonized after death, were
believed to have more power to avert misfortune than the invocation
of the Almighty. In time, however, the zealous labors of exiled
Medinese and Persian non-conformists had supplanted the grosser
forms of this superstition by a religion whose fervor was hardly
equalled by that displayed by the most fanatical Companion of
Mohammed. The scoffing and polished Arabs of Syria, of whom the
Viceroy was a prominent example, Pagan by birth and infidel in
belief and practice, were sedulously represented as the enemies of
Heaven and the hereditary revilers of the Prophet, whom it was a
duty to destroy. These revolutionary sentiments, received in Africa
with applause, were diffused through Spain by the tide of
immigration, in which country, as elsewhere, they were destined
soon to produce the most important political results. The Berbers,
wrought up to a pitch of ungovernable fury, now only awaited a
suitable opportunity to inaugurate the most formidable revolt which
had ever menaced the Mohammedan government of Africa. In the
year 740 an increased contribution was demanded of the inhabitants
of Tangier, whose relations with the savages of the neighboring
mountains had prevented the conversion of the former to Islam. A
division of the army was absent in Sicily, and the Berbers, perceiving
their advantage, rose everywhere against their oppressors. They
stormed Tangier, expelled the garrisons of the sea-coast cities,
elected a sovereign, and defeated in rapid succession every force
sent against them. The pride and resentment of the Khalif Hischem
at last impelled him to despatch a great army against his rebellious
subjects. It numbered seventy thousand, and was commanded by a
distinguished Syrian officer, Balj-Ibn-Beshr, who was ordered to put
to death without mercy every rebel who might fall into his hands and
to indulge the troops in all the license of indiscriminate pillage.
Marching towards the west, the Syrian general encountered the
Berbers on the plain of Mulwiyah. The naked bodies and inferior
weapons of the insurgents provoked the contempt of the soldiers of
the Khalif, who expected an easy victory; but the resistless impulse
of the barbarians supplied the want of arms and discipline, and the
Syrians were routed with the loss of two-thirds of their number.
Some ten thousand horsemen, under command of Balj, cut their way
through the enemy and took refuge in Ceuta. The Berbers, aware of
the impossibility of reducing that place, ravaged the neighborhood
for miles around, and, having blockaded the town on all sides, the
Syrians, unable to escape or to obtain provisions, were threatened
with a lingering death by famine.
Abd-al-Melik, Emir of Spain, was a native of Medina. Half a
century before he had been prominent in the Arab army at the battle
of Harra, the bloody prelude to the sack of the Holy City and the
enslavement and exile of its citizens. To him, in vain, did the Syrian
general apply for vessels in which to cross the strait. The Arab
chieftain, bearing upon his body many scars inflicted by the spears
of Yezid’s troopers and who had seen his family and his neighbors
massacred before his face, now exulted in the prospect of an
unhoped-for revenge; and, for the complete accomplishment of his
purpose, he issued stringent orders against supplying the
unfortunate Syrians with supplies. The sympathy of Zeyad-Ibn-Amru,
a wealthy resident of Cordova, was aroused by the account of their
sufferings, and he imprudently fitted out two vessels for their relief;
which act of insubordination having been communicated to the Emir,
he ordered Zeyad to be imprisoned, and, having put out his eyes,
impaled him, in company with a dog, a mark of ignominy inflicted
only on the worst of criminals.
The news of the decisive victory obtained by the Berbers over the
army of the Khalif was received with pride and rejoicing by all of
their countrymen in Spain. The efforts of the missionaries, aided by
the fiery zeal of their proselytes, had infused into the population of
the North, composed largely of African colonists, a spirit of
fanaticism which threatened to carry everything before it. In a
moment the Berbers of Aragon, Galicia, and Estremadura sprang to
arms. Uniting their forces they elected officers; then, organized in
three divisions, they prepared to dispute the authority of the Emir in
the strongholds of his power. One body marched upon Cordova,
another invested Toledo, and the third directed its course towards
Algeziras, with designs upon the fleet, by whose aid they expected
to massacre the Syrians in Ceuta and to collect a body of colonists
sufficient to destroy the haughty Arab aristocracy of the Peninsula
and found an independent kingdom, Berber in nationality, schismatic
and precisian in religion.
And now were again exhibited the singular inconsistencies and
remarkable effects of the fatal antagonism of race. The critical
condition of Abd-al-Melik compelled him to implore the support of his
Syrian foes, whom he hated with far more bitterness than he did his
rebellious subjects, and who were also thoroughly cognizant of his
feelings towards them as well as of the political necessity which
prompted his advances. A treaty was executed, by whose terms the
Syrians were to be transported into Spain and pledged their
assistance to crush the rebellion, and, after this had been
accomplished, the Emir agreed to land them in Africa upon a
territory which acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Khalif. Hostages
selected from their principal officers were delivered by the half-
famished refugees, and they embarked for Andalusia, where the
policy of the government and the sympathy of the people supplied
them with food, clothing, and arms, and their drooping spirits soon
revived. These experienced soldiers, united with the forces of Abd-
al-Melik, attacked and routed with ease, one after another, the three
Berber armies. All of the plunder which the latter had collected fell
into their hands, in addition to that secured by expeditions into the
now undefended country of their enemies. His apprehensions
concerning the Berbers having been removed, Abd-al-Melik now
became anxious to relieve his dominions of the presence of allies
whose success rendered them formidable. But the allurements of soil
and climate had made the Syrians reluctant to abandon the beautiful
land of Andaluz,—the region where they had accumulated so much
wealth, the scene where their efforts had been crowned with so
much glory. Disputes arose between their leader and the Emir
concerning the interpretation of the treaty; the Syrian general,
conscious of his power, lost no opportunity to provoke the fiery
temper of Abd-al-Melik; and, at last, taking advantage of a favorable
occasion, he expelled the latter from his capital. Balj, elected to the
viceroyalty by his command, proceeded at once to extend and
confirm his newly acquired authority. The hostages confined near
Algeziras were released, and their accounts of harsh treatment
enraged their companions, who recalled their own sufferings and the
inhumanity of Abd-al-Melik during their blockade in Ceuta. With loud
cries they demanded the death of the Emir. The efforts of their
officers to stem the torrent were futile; a mob dragged the
venerable prince from his palace, and, taking him to the bridge
outside the city of Cordova, crucified him between a dog and a hog,
animals whose contact is suggestive of horrible impurity to a
Mussulman and whose very names are epithets of vileness and
contempt. Thus perished ignominiously this stout old soldier, who
could boast of the purest blood of the Koreish; who had witnessed
the wonderful changes of three eventful generations; who had seen
service under the standard of Islam in Arabia, Egypt, Al-Maghreb,
France, and Spain; who had bravely defended the tomb of the
Prophet at Medina, and had confronted with equal resolution the
mail-clad squadrons of Charles upon the banks of the Rhone; who
had twice administered in troublous times the affairs of the
Peninsula; and who now, long past that age when men seek
retirement from the cares of public life, still active and vigorous, was
sacrificed, through his own imprudence, to the irreconcilable hatred
of tribal antagonism. An act of such atrocity, without considering the
prominence of the victim, the nationality of the participants, or the
degree of provocation, was, independent of its moral aspect, highly
impolitic and most prejudicial to the interests of the revolutionists.
The Syrians became practically isolated in a foreign country. The
sons of Abd-al-Melik, who held important commands in the North,
assembled a great army. Reinforcements were furnished by the
governor of Narbonne, and the fickle Berbers joined in considerable
numbers the ranks of their former adversaries.
At a little village called Aqua-Portera, not far from Cordova, the
Arabs and Berbers attacked the foreigners, who had enlisted as their
auxiliaries a number of criminals and outlaws. In the battle which
followed the latter were victorious, but lost their general Balj, who
fell in a single combat with the governor of Narbonne. The Syrians,
whose choice was immediately confirmed by the Khalif, elected as
his successor, Thalaba-Ibn-Salamah, a monster whose name was
afterwards stained with acts of incredible infamy. His inhumanity was
proverbial. His troops gave no quarter. The wives and children of his
opponents, whose liberty even the most violent of his party had
respected, were enslaved. Other victims he had previously exposed
at auction before the gates of Cordova, under circumstances of the
grossest cruelty and humiliation. The most illustrious of these were
nobles of the party of Medina. By an exquisite refinement of insult
he caused them to be disposed of to the lowest, instead of the
highest, bidder, and even bartered publicly for impure and filthy
animals the descendants of the friends of Mohammed, members of
the proudest families of the aristocracy of Arabia. But the atrocities
of Thalaba had already alienated many of the adherents of his own
party as well as terrified those of the opposite faction, who had no
mercy to expect at the hands of a leader who neither observed the
laws of war nor respected the faith of treaties. Upon the application
of these citizens, most of them men of high rank and influential
character, the Viceroy of Africa sent Abu-al-Khattar to supersede the
sanguinary Thalaba. He arrived just in time to rescue the unhappy
Berbers, many of them Moslems, who were already ranged in order
for systematic massacre. His power was soon felt; and by banishing
the leaders of the insurgents; by granting a general amnesty; by an
ample distribution of unsettled territory; and by conferring upon the
truculent strangers a portion of the public revenues, an unusual
degree of peace and security was soon assured to the entire
Peninsula. In accordance with a policy adopted many years before,
the various colonists were assigned to districts which bore some
resemblance, in their general features, to the land of their nativity, a
plan which offered the additional advantage of separating these
turbulent spirits from each other, thus rendering mutual co-operation
difficult, if not impossible, in any enterprise affecting the safety or
permanence of the central power.
The first months of the administration of Abu-al-Khattar were
distinguished by a degree of forbearance and charity unusual amidst
the disorder which now prevailed in every province of the Moslem
empire. But his partisans had wrongs to avenge, and the Emir had
not the moral courage to resist the importunate demands of his
kindred. An unjust judicial decision provoked reproach; insult led to
bloodshed; the fiery Maadites rushed to arms; and once more the
Peninsula assumed its ordinary aspect of political convulsion and civil
war. Al-Samil and Thalaba, two captains of distinction, obtained the
supremacy; the Emir was imprisoned, then rescued, and, after
several ineffectual attempts to regain his authority, put to death.
Having overpowered its adversary, the triumphant Maadite faction
gratified its revengeful impulses to the utmost by plunder, torture,
and assassination. At length the condition of affairs becoming
intolerable, and no prospect existing of relief from the East, where
the candidates of rival tribes contended for the tempting prize of the
khalifate, a council of officers was convoked, and Yusuf-Abd-al-
Rahman-al-Fehri was unanimously chosen governor of Spain.
This commander had, by many years of faithful service in France,
by strict impartiality in his decisions, and by a bravery remarkable
among a people with whom the slightest sign of cowardice was an
indelible disgrace, won the respect and admiration of his
contemporaries. His lineage was high, his person attractive, his
manners dignified and courteous. He had defended Narbonne
against the power of Charles Martel, whose army, flushed with
victory and animated by the presence of the great Mayor of the
Palace himself, had been unable to shake his confidence or disturb
his equanimity. But his eminent qualifications for the position to
which he was now called did not depend upon his former services
and his personal merit so much as upon the absence which had kept
him from all the entanglements and intrigues of faction. Thus it was
that the fiercest partisans hailed his election as a harbinger of peace
and concord; a wise stroke of policy that might reconcile the
antagonistic pretensions of the nobles of Damascus and Medina;
curb the lawlessness of the Berbers; and restore the Emirate of the
West to that tranquillity and prosperity it had at long intervals
enjoyed, and of which the memory, like a half-forgotten tradition,
alone remained. This illegal act of the officers was without hesitation
sanctioned by the Khalif Merwan, who prudently overlooked the
spirit of independence implied by its exercise on account of its
evident wisdom and the imperative necessity which had dictated it.
The disorders of the unhappy Peninsula had, however, become
incurable under the present conditions of government. All the skill
and experience of Yusuf were exhausted in fruitless attempts at the
adjustment of territorial disputes and the pacification of feuds which
a generation of internecine conflict had engendered. An insurrection
broke out in Septimania, a province hitherto exempt from similar
disturbances. Ahmed-Ibn-Amru, wali of Seville, whom Yusuf had
removed from the command of the fleet, a chief of the Koreish,
whose vast estates enabled him to surpass the magnificence of the
Emir himself, and an aspirant for supreme power, organized and
headed a formidable conspiracy. His name was associated with the
early triumphs of Islam, for he was the great-grandson of the ensign
who had borne the standard of Mohammed at the battle of Bedr.
Prompted by unusual audacity, which was confirmed by the
possession of wealth, ability, and power, he asserted that he had
received the commission of the Abbasides as Viceroy of Spain. The
Asturians, emboldened by the quarrels of their foes, leaving their
mountain fastnesses, began to push their incursions far to the
southward. The entire country was engaged in hostilities. Every
occupation but that of warfare was suspended. The herdsman was
robbed of his flocks. The fertile fields were transformed into a barren
waste. On all sides were the mournful tokens of misery and want;
from palace and hut rose the moan of the famishing or the wail for
the dead. Intercourse between the neighboring cities, alienated by
hostility or fearful of marauders, ceased. The doubtful tenure of
authority, dependent upon the incessant changes of administration,
made it impossible for the Christians to ascertain to whom tribute
was rightfully due. and this confusion of interests often subjected
them to the injustice of double, and even treble, taxation. At no time
in the history of Spain, since the irruption of the Goths, had such a
condition of anarchy and social wretchedness prevailed; when the
inspiration of a few Syrian chieftains brought the existing chaos to
an end, by the introduction of a new ruler and the re-establishment
of a dynasty whose princes, the tyrants of Damascus, had hitherto
reflected little more than odium and derision on the Moslem name.
The history of Spain under the emirs presents a melancholy
succession of tragic events arising from antipathy of race, political
ambition, religious zeal, and private enmity. An extraordinary degree
of instability, misrule, distrust, and avarice characterized their
administration. The revolutions which constantly afflicted the
Khalifate of Damascus exercised no inconsiderable influence over the
viceregal capitals of Kairoan and Cordova. The Ommeyade princes of
Syria lived in constant apprehension of death by violence. The
methods by which they had arisen in many instances contributed to
their overthrow. The assassin of yesterday often became the victim
of to-day. The perpetration of every crime, the indulgence in every
vice, by the Successors of the Prophet, diminished the faith and
loyalty of their subjects and seriously affected the prestige and
divine character believed to attach to their office. The subordinates
necessarily shared the odium and ignominy of their superiors. The
Emir of Spain labored under a twofold disadvantage. He held under
the Viceroy of Africa, while the latter was appointed directly by the
Khalif. This division of authority and responsibility was not conducive
to the interests of good government, social order, or domestic
tranquillity. The people of the Peninsula, subject to the caprices of a
double tyranny, could not be expected to feel much reverence for
the supreme potentate of their government and religion thirteen
hundred miles away. With the accession of each ruler arose fresh
pretexts for the exercise of every resource of extortion. The rapacity
of these officials rivalled in the ingenuity of its devices and the value
of its returns the exactions of the Roman proconsuls. The methods
by which the majority of them maintained their power provoked
universal execration. Under such political conditions, loyalty, union,
and commercial prosperity were impossible. The ancient course of
affairs—an order which had existed for three hundred years—had
been rudely interrupted. Even under favorable auspices the
foundation of a government and the reorganization of society would
have been tasks fraught with many perplexities and dangers. The
Visigothic empire had, it is true, been subdued, but its national spirit,
its religion, and its traditions remained. The changes of Moslem
governors were sudden and frequent. The average duration of an
emir’s official life was exactly twenty-seven months. It required the
exertion of the greatest wisdom, of the most enlightened
statesmanship, to avert the calamities which must necessarily result
from the collision between a heterogeneous populace subjected
suddenly to the will of a still more heterogeneous mass of
foreigners; to reconcile the interests of adverse factions; to appease
the demands of wild barbarians unaccustomed to be denied; to
decide alike profound questions of policy and frivolous disputes
connected with the various gradations of ecclesiastical dignity, of
hereditary rank, of military distinction, and of social precedence. The
inflexibility of the Arab character, the assumed superiority of the
Arab race, the unquenchable fires of tribal hatred, the necessity of
maintaining the rights accorded under solemn treaties to the
vanquished, enhanced a hundred-fold the difficulties which
confronted the sovereign. As an inevitable consequence a chronic
state of disorder prevailed. The authority of the Khalifs of Damascus
was in fact but nominal, and was never invoked except to
countenance revolt or to assure the obedience of those who faltered
in their loyalty to the emirs, the actual rulers of Spain. But, despite
these serious impediments, the genius of the Arabian people
advanced rapidly in the path of civilization, while the dense and
sluggish intellect of the northern barbarians, who, in their origin,
were not less ignorant, remained stationary. It took Spain, under the
Moslems, less than half a century to reach a point in human
progress which was not attained by Italy under the popes in a
thousand years. The capacity of the Arab mind to absorb, to
appropriate, to invent, to develop, to improve, has no parallel in the
annals of any race. The empire of the khalifs included an even
greater diversity of climate and nations than that of Rome. The ties
of universal brotherhood proclaimed by the Koran; the connections
demanded by the requirements of an extended commerce; the
intimate associations encouraged by the pilgrimage to Mecca,
awakened the curiosity and enlarged, in an equal degree, the minds
of the Moslems of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Yet more important than
all was the effect of the almost incessant hostilities waged against
the infidel. By its constantly varying events, its fascinations, its
thrilling excitements, its dangers, its victories, defeats, and triumphs,
war has a remarkable tendency to expand the intellectual faculties,
and thereby to advance the cause of truth and promote the
improvement of every branch of useful knowledge. The advantages
derived from travel, experience, and conquest the Moslems brought
with them into the Spanish Peninsula. Under the emirate, however,
these were constantly counteracted by the ferocious and indomitable
character of the Berbers. The latter did not forget the part they had
taken in the Conquest. It was one of their countrymen who had led
the victorious army. It was the irresistible onset of their cavalry
which had pierced the Gothic lines on the Guadalete. The rapidity of
their movements, the impetuosity of their attacks, had awed and
subdued, in a few short months, the populous states of a mighty
empire. Scarcely had they begun to enjoy the pleasures of victory
before the greed of an hereditary enemy of their race snatched from
their hands the well-earned fruits of their valor. Their commander
was imprisoned, insulted, and disgraced. Their plunder was seized.
Those who evinced a desire for a sedentary life were assigned to the
bleak and sterile plains of La Mancha, Aragon, and Galicia, while the
Arabs of Syria and the Hedjaz divided among themselves the
glorious regions of the South, which tradition had designated as the
Elysian Fields of the ancients. The arrogant disposition of these lords
heaped upon their Berber vassals every outrage which malice could
devise or tyranny execute. The accident of African extraction was
sufficient to exclude the most accomplished and capable soldier from
an office of responsibility under the Khalifate of Damascus. In Spain,
as in Al-Maghreb, the fairest virgins of the Berber camps were torn
from the arms of their parents to replenish the harems of the Orient.
Under such circumstances, it is not strange that the acute
sensibilities of a proud and independent people should have been
deeply wounded by the infliction of every fresh indignity, and their
disaffection endanger the stability of the new government and
imperil the institutions of religion itself by fostering the violent spirit
of tribal animosity, that ominous spectre which constantly haunted
with its fearful presence the society of city and hamlet, and stalked
grimly and in menacing silence in the very shadow of the throne.
The moral and political aspect of the Western world coincided in
many particulars with that of Spain during the age of transition
which preceded the establishment of the Khalifate of Cordova. Of all
the states which had composed the vast fabric of the Roman Empire
scarcely one was at peace with its neighbors or exempt from the
calamities incident to religious discord and civil war. The scanty
remains of art and learning which had escaped the fury of the
barbarians had taken refuge in Constantinople, now the intellectual
centre of Europe. The noble productions of the ancients had,
however, been cast aside with contempt for the homilies of the
Fathers, and arguments concerning the miraculous virtues of
images, together with daily riots and chariot-races, engaged the
attention and amused the leisure of the weak and pusillanimous
Byzantine, whose character, deformed by abject vices, had long
since forfeited all right to the honored name of Roman. The
turbulent populace of that great city, which virtually dictated the
edicts of its rulers, protected by its impregnable walls, had seen,
with craven indifference, its environs plundered and its sovereignty
defied by the powers of Persian, Goth, and Saracen. The genius and
energy of its founder had been supplanted by the superstitions and
cruelties of a succession of feeble tyrants, whose manifold crimes
were now, for a short interval, redeemed by the martial talents and
political virtues of Leo the Isaurian.
In Italy, the peace of society was disturbed by the iconoclastic
heresy and the disorders which accompanied the foundation of a
republic, commotions destined soon to provoke the interference of
the Lombards and the subsequent impolitic alliance with those
perfidious barbarians. The stern and uncompromising character of
Gregory the Great had established the Church upon a basis so solid
that the efforts of all its enemies have to this day been unable to
prevail against it; and the sagacity of this distinguished pontiff had
vindicated the policy of a system prompted by the inspiration of
almost superhuman wisdom, sanctified by the precepts of antiquity,
strengthened by the enthusiasm of its saints and martyrs, and
confirmed by the prescription of centuries.
No country in Europe during the eighth century exhibited such a
picture of unredeemed barbarism as Britain. The Romans had never
been able to more than temporarily establish their institutions in that
island. The legions with difficulty held in subjection a people whom
neither force nor the arts of persuasion could make amenable to the
benefits of civilized life. The cruel rites which characterized the
worship of the Druids had been abolished, but the elegant
mythology of Italy obtained no hold upon the minds of the degraded
aborigines, who welcomed with delight the savage ceremonies which
were performed around the altars of the Scandinavian Woden. Upon
this uncongenial soil the refining genius of Rome left no permanent
traces of its occupancy, no splendid memorials of its art and culture.
The nature of the transitory impressions emanating from the
possession of Britain by the masters of the world was disclosed by
the crushing misfortunes which befell the empire in the fifth century.
Unable to sustain the cares of government, hostile chieftains
abandoned the island to all the woes of anarchy, and partisan
jealousy invoked the perilous aid of the pirates of Germany, whose
dominion was finally established only by a war of extermination
involving both ally and foe. The obscurity of the British annals
concerning the period under consideration, dense of itself, is
increased by the popular acceptance of myth and legend as historic
truth. The chroniclers of Western Europe, however, have made us
acquainted with the national character of the Saxons. We know that
in Britain the customs of the aborigines and the laws of the empire
were alike abrogated; that no worship prevailed but the basest form
of idolatry; that every vestige of Roman institutions was swept away;
that the religion whose maxims had been proclaimed by the
eloquence of Augustin was extirpated; and that the voice of faction
which had evoked this barbarian tempest was silenced in the
convulsions which preceded the foundation of the Saxon Heptarchy.
The island, whose name is now the most familiar one known to
mankind, became more mysterious than it had been in the remotest
ages of antiquity; the country whose constitution is now inseparably
associated with the enjoyment of the largest measure of freedom
was then noted as the most advantageous market for the purchase
of slaves. In the cultivated society of Constantinople, learned men
believed that Britain was a region of pestilence and horrors, whither,
as to a place of eternal punishment, the spirits of the Franks were
ferried at midnight by a tribe of weird fishermen, who, by reason of
this service, were exempted from certain burdens and enjoyed
peculiar privileges. Among the luxurious ecclesiastics of Gaul, the
slaves imported from Britain were greatly esteemed as being both
cheap and serviceable; and the sacred office of priest or abbot was
not degraded by the ownership of hapless beings in whose unnatural
parents the feelings of humanity and the instincts of affection had
been subordinated to the debasing passion of avarice.
The general complexion of affairs in Gaul offered a striking
analogy to that prevailing in Spain at the time of the subversion of
the kingdom of the Visigoths. In one respect, however, a difference
more apparent than real existed; no monarch was deluded by the
professed allegiance, and was at the same time constantly
threatened by the treasonable plots of his subjects. A dynasty of
puppet kings, restricted to a limited territory, displayed amidst every
temptation to sensual indulgence the idle pomp of sovereignty. A
race of hardy warriors and statesmen, ignorant of letters,
experienced in arms, controlled, by the power of military enthusiasm
and the superior influence of diplomatic ability, the destinies of the
Frankish nation. With the exception of the clergy, whose attainments
were at the best but superficial, the people were plunged into the
deepest ignorance. In the regions of the North and East the
influence of the idolatrous Germans and Scandinavians had retarded
the progress of Christianity. Elsewhere, however, a mongrel religion,
in which were incorporated the mummeries of polytheistic worship,
the degrading superstitions and sanguinary rites of the Saxons, and
the worst features of the Arian heresy, prevailed. This debased form
of faith, which recognized neither the tolerance of Paganism nor the
charity of the Gospel, satisfied the spiritual requirements of a
barbarian populace. In one province idolatry was practised. In
another, the principles of Christianity were in the ascendant. Not
infrequently these forms of worship existed side by side; and within
the sound of the cathedral bell the incense of sacrifice rose from the
altars of the Teutonic deities, or the haruspex exercised his
mysterious office, and, grovelling in the steaming vitals of the newly
slaughtered victim, read, in the shape of the liver or the folds of the
entrails, the signs of the future and the unerring decrees of fate.
Wherever the authority of the Roman Pontiff prevailed, the
inclination to a monastic life predominated among all classes of
society. Virgins of the wealthiest families, warriors of the greatest
renown, alike voluntarily sought the retirement of the cloister, amidst
the congratulations of their relatives and the applause of their
companions. When the attractions of the world were too powerful to
be resisted, the proudest chieftains compromised with conscience
either by the donation of their serfs to the abodes consecrated to
the service of God, or by the ransom and purchase of slaves to
increase the lordly abbot’s imposing retinue. In the foundation of
religious houses in France there existed an emulation unknown to
any other country embraced in the spiritual domain of the Papacy.
The fame and piety of the patron of one of these establishments was
in a direct proportion to the number of recluses whom his riches or
his influence was able to assemble within its walls. As a
consequence, no inconsiderable portion of the population of France
was devoted to a conventual life, and the number of monks
congregated in a single monastery was prodigious, in many
instances amounting to as many as eight hundred. The generosity
and devotion of the founder of a religious community were certain to
be rewarded with the coveted honor of canonization, and records of
the Gallic Church during the first half of the eighth century include
the names of more saints than any corresponding period in the
history of Latin Christianity. Liberality to these holy institutions was
esteemed not only a virtue of supreme excellence but a certain proof
of orthodoxy, and their vaults enclosed treasures whose value was
sedulously exaggerated by the vanity of the clergy and the credulity
of the rabble. The accounts of the enormous wealth of these
establishments, disseminated far and wide through the garrulity of
pilgrims and travellers, by stimulating the cupidity of the Arabs and
inciting them to crusade and colonization, produced a decided effect
upon the political fortunes and social organization of France, and
through France indirectly upon those of all Europe.
Rudeness, brutality, coarse licentiousness, affected sanctity, and
barbaric splendor were the prominent characteristics of the society
constituted by the nominal sovereigns and their courts, the mayors
of the palace and their retainers, and the lazy ecclesiastics who
swarmed in every portion of the dominions of the Merovingian
princes. The will of the most powerful noble was the law of the land.
Apprehension of intestine warfare and the mutual jealousy and
unscrupulous ambition of the feudal lords perpetually discouraged
the industry of the husbandman. A feeling of indifference pervaded
the ranks of the ignorant populace, stupidly content with the
pleasures of a mere animal existence. The priesthood, assiduous in
the exactions of tithes, evinced a marked repugnance to contribute
pecuniary aid in times of national emergency when even their own
existence was imperilled. Unnatural crimes, fratricide, incest, and
nameless offences against public decency were common.
Concubinage was universally prevalent among the wealthy. In a
practice so fatal to the purity of domestic life the clergy obtained a
disgraceful pre-eminence, and in the cloistered seclusion of convents
and monasteries, those apparent seats of austerity and devotion,
were enacted with impunity scenes which shrank from the publicity
of cities and indicated the alarming and hopeless extent of
ecclesiastical depravity.
In the provinces of the South, formerly subject to the jurisdiction
of the Visigoths, a greater degree of intelligence and a more
polished intercourse existed, the inheritance of the ancient colonists
who had bequeathed to their posterity the traditions of Roman
luxury and Grecian culture. Here, upon the shores of the
Mediterranean and in the valley of the Rhone, the gifts of nature
were better adapted to progress in the arts; the climate was more
propitious to the intellectual development of the masses. While
social equality was yet strictly observed in the assemblies of the
Teutons and the Franks, the pride of aristocracy here first asserted
its superior claims to consideration. It was from this region, favored
by its geographical position, its commercial relations, and its
sympathy with the philosophical ideas and literary aspirations of the
inhabitants of Moslem Spain, that was to spread the refining
influence of chivalry and letters afterwards so prominently displayed
in the courts of the Albigensian princes.
The unsatisfactory nature of the information afforded by the
defective chronicles of the eighth century is a serious impediment to
the satisfactory elucidation of events whose paramount importance
has been recognized by every historian. A lamentable want of detail,
and an utter absence of philosophical discrimination, are the
characteristic traits of these illiterate annalists. Of the gradual
unfolding of national character; of the secret motives which actuated
the rude but dexterous statesmen of that epoch; of the incessant
mutations of public policy; of the silent but powerful revolutions
effected by the inexorable laws of nature and the failings of
humanity, they tell us next to nothing. And yet no period mentioned
in history has been more prolific of great events. No achievement of
ancient or modern times was perfected with such rapidity or
produced such decided effects upon the intellectual progress of the
human race as the Mohammedan Conquest of Spain. The valor of
the idolater, Charles Martel, prepared the way for the vast empire
and boundless authority of Charlemagne. The zeal of his orthodox
successor assured the permanence and supremacy of the Holy See.
Upon the success or failure of the Moslem crusade hung, as in a
balance, the political fortunes of Europe and the religious destiny of
the world. The battle of Poitiers was not, as is generally asserted, a
contest between the champions of two hostile forms of faith, for the
army of the Franks was largely composed of Pagans, and the ranks
of the invaders were filled with Berbers, Jews, and infidels. Moslem
zealots, like those who had shared the bitter privations of the
Prophet, who had upheld his falling banner at Ohod, who had
prevailed over fearful odds commanded by the bravest generals of
the Roman and Persian empires, who had witnessed the capture of
Damascus and Jerusalem, were rare in that motley host of
adventurers whose religion was frequently a disguise assumed for
the ignoble purpose of rapine. The fierce ardor and invincible spirit
of the original Mussulmans had departed. A tithe of the fiery
enthusiasm which had evoked the astonishment and consternation
of their early antagonists must have changed the fortunes of that
eventful day.
Upon the other hand, the Franks were not inspired with zeal for
the maintenance of any religious principle. Their fickle homage was
paid to Zernbock and Woden, the sanguinary gods of the German
forests, or to that weird priesthood which delivered its oracles from
the cromlechs of Brittany. The pressing requirements of the
emergency, the prospect of plunder and glory, had summoned the
warriors of a hundred tribes from the banks of the Danube to the
limits of Scandinavia. So little were these wild barbarians entitled to
the appellation of Christians that they were, even then, under the
ban of ecclesiastical displeasure, and had been loaded with
anathemas for the sacrilegious use of the property of the Church to
avert the danger impending over Christendom. But leaving out of
consideration the motives which actuated the combatants, there can
be no question as to the decisive results of the battle of Poitiers. It
was one of the few great victories which, like conspicuous landmarks
in the pathway of human affairs, indicate the advancement or the
retardation of nations. The prospect of Mohammedan conquest had
long been the terror of Europe. The Pope trembled in the Vatican.
The pious devotee, as he prostrated himself before the image of his
patron saint, vowed an additional penance to ward off the calamity
which every day was expected to bring forth. Imagination and fear
painted the Saracens as a race of incarnate fiends, whose aspect
was far more frightful, whose atrocities were far more ruthless, than
those of the Huns who had been routed by Ætius four hundred years
before on the plains of Chalons. The lapse of twelve centuries has
not sufficed to dispel this superstitious dread, and the Saracen, as a
monster and a bugbear, still figures in the nursery tales and rhymes
of Central France.
The Spanish Emirate includes the most obscure epoch of Moslem
annals. Its events have been, for the most part, preserved only by
tradition. Its chronicles are chaotic, defective, and contradictory. Its
dates are confused. It abounds in anachronisms; in the confusion of
localities; in the multiplication of individuals under a variety of
names. The credulity and prejudice of annalists, few of whom were
contemporaneous with the occurrences they profess to describe,
render their statements suspicious or absolutely unworthy of belief.
With such drawbacks attainment to accuracy is manifestly
impracticable, and a reasonable degree of probability can alone be
hoped for from the baffled and perplexed historian.
Exactly a hundred and ten years had elapsed since Mohammed
fled from Mecca like a common malefactor, under sentence of
execution by the leaders of his tribe, with a reward of a thousand
pieces of gold upon his head, and Islam was regarded as the dream
of a half-demented enthusiast. Now the name of the Prophet was
revered from the Indies to the Atlantic. The new sect numbered its
adherents by millions. Its arms had invariably been victorious. Its
energy had surmounted every obstacle. The most venerated shrines
of Christianity and the cradle of that religion,—Antioch, Alexandria,
Carthage, and Jerusalem,—places associated with all that is dear to
the followers of our Saviour, and made sacred by miracle, legend,
and tradition, were in its hands. Rome and Constantinople, the
remaining great centres of Christian faith—the one destined to be
attacked by the Moslems of Sicily, the other now menaced by the
Moslems of Spain—trembled for their safety. Saracen fleets were
already cruising in the eastern Mediterranean. The Mussulman
standard had been planted on the Loire, thirty-six hundred miles
distant from Mecca. In every country into which Islam had
penetrated, it had found faithful allies and adherents. Religious
indifference, public oppression, the burdens of feudalism, and the
evils of slavery paved the way for its acceptance. The Jews opened
the gates of cities. The leaders of depressed factions contributed to
the ruin of their countrymen with purse and sword. Vassals and
slaves apostatized by thousands. Most ominous of all, the test of
spiritual truth and inspiration invariably dependent, in the estimation
of the credulous, upon superiority in arms, was steadily on the side
of the infidel. It is not strange, therefore, that Christian Europe
looked with undisguised dismay upon the portentous advance of the
Mussulman power. It is a matter of some doubt whether the
doctrines of Mohammed could have obtained a permanent foothold
in the frozen regions of the North. The geographical distribution of
religions is largely determined by climate. Islam is essentially exotic.
It has survived, but never flourished, beyond the tropics. A learned
historian has advanced the hypothesis that it cannot exist in a
latitude where the olive does not grow, a statement which seems to
be justified by the experience of history. It is highly improbable that
the dogmas and customs of the Orient would have found, under a
leaden sky and amidst the chilling blasts of Holland and Germany,
conditions propitious to their propagation. Important modifications
must have resulted, and, with these modifications, religious and
social revolution. The steadiness and prowess of the Teutonic
soldiery had forever assured the safety of Europe from serious
molestation by the princes of the Hispano-Arab empire. The irregular
and ill-concerted attacks, which subsequently followed at long
intervals, were easily repulsed. Whether the world at large was
profited by the victory of Charles Martel may, in the light afforded by
the brilliant results of Moslem civilization, well be questioned. It is
hardly possible to conjecture what effect would have been produced
upon the creeds and habits of the present age by the triumph of the
Saracen power, but, in the words of an eminent writer, “the least of
our evils had now been that we should have worn turbans; combed
our beards instead of shaving them; have beheld a more magnificent
architecture than the Grecian, while the public mind had been
bounded by the arts and literature of the Moorish University of
Cordova.”
 CHAPTER VII
FOUNDATION OF THE SPANISH MONARCHY

718–757
The Northern Provinces of Spain—Their Desolate and Forbidding
Character—Climate—Population—Religion—Peculiarities of the
Asturian Peasantry—Pelayus—His Birth and Antecedents—He
collects an Army—Obscure Origin of the Spanish Kingdom—
Extraordinary Conditions under which it was founded—Battle of
Covadonga—Rout of the Arabs—Increase of the Christian Power—
Favila—Alfonso I.—His Enterprise and Conquests—His Policy of
Colonization—Survival of the Spirit of Liberty—Religious Abuses—
State of Society—Beginning of the Struggle for Empire.
The general topography of the Spanish Peninsula exhibits a
gradual and continuous increase in altitude, beginning at the tropical
plains of Andalusia and terminating in the mountain range which
traverses its northern extremity from the eastern boundary of France
to the Bay of Biscay. This rugged chain of mountains, some of whose
peaks attain an elevation of almost ten thousand feet, throws out
innumerable spurs to the north and south, which are separated by
impassable gorges and gloomy ravines, occasionally relieved by
valleys of limited extent but remarkable fertility. Its proximity to the
ocean, whose vapors are condensed and precipitated by contact with
the summit of the sierra, renders the climate of this region one of
exceptional moisture, but its foggy atmosphere is not unfavorable
either to the health or the longevity of man. In certain localities,
rains are almost incessant, and the depths of many of its defiles are
never gladdened by the genial and vivifying rays of the sun. The
most untiring industry is requisite to procure the means of a meagre
subsistence, and the laborious efforts of the cultivator of the soil are
supplemented by the vigilance of the shepherd, whose fleeces,
generally preferred to the coarse products of the loom, furnish the
male population with clothing. Upon the coast entire communities