CHAPTER XXV

THE CHRISTIANS UNDER MOSLEM RULE

Scarcity of Information concerning the Tributary Christians--Supremacy of the Church under the Visigoths--Independence of the Spanish Hierarchy--Its Wealth--Civil Organization of the Christians under the Moors--Their Privileges--Restrictions imposed upon Them--Freedom of Worship--Churches, Monasteries, and Convents--Conditions in Sicily--Greater Severity of the Laws in that Island--Anomaly in the Ecclesiastical Government of Spain--The Khalif the Virtual Head of the Church--Abuse of His Power--Results of the Arab Occupation of Septimania--Increased Authority of the Spanish Hierarchy resulting from its Isolation--Social Life of the Christian Tributaries--Their Devotion to Arab Learning--They are employed by the Khalifs in Important Missions--Innate Hostility of Moslem and Christian--Number and Influence of the Renegades--The Martyrs--Causes of Persecution--Contrast between the Maxims and Policy of the Two Religions--Impediments to Racial Amalgamation 177