heir wicked King John the great
charter of their liberties.

It was just at this period, when the door had suddenly opened ushering
Europe into a new life, that the Christian cause in Spain triumphed;
and, excepting in the little kingdom of Granada, the Cross waved from
the Pyrenees to the sea. After more than four centuries of steadfast
devotion to that object, the descendants of the Visigoth Kings had
come once more into their inheritance.

They found it enriched, and clothed with a beauty of which their
ancestors could never have dreamed. These Spaniards had learned their
lesson of valor in the north, and they had learned it well. Now in the
land of the Moor, dwelling in the palaces they had built, and gazing
upon masterpieces of Arabic art and architecture which they had
left, they were to learn the subtle charm of form and color, and the
fascination which music and poetry and beauty and knowledge may
lend to life. As they drank from these Moorish fountains the rugged
warriors found them very sweet; and they discovered that there were
other pleasures in life beside fighting the Moors and nursing memories
of the Cid and their vanished heroes.

The territory of Fernando III., King of Castile (1230-52), extended
now from the Bay of Biscay to the Guadalquivir. The ancient city of
Seville was chosen as his capital. It was a far cry from the "Cave
of Covadonga" to the Moorish palace of the "Alcazar," where dwelt
the pious descendant of Pelayo! The first act of Fernando III. was
to convert the Mosque at Seville into a cathedral, which still stands
with its Moorish bell-tower, the beautiful "Giralda." There may also
be seen to-day over one of its portals a stuffed crocodile, which was
sent alive to King Ferdinand by the Sultan of Egypt. And within the
cathedral, in a silver urn with glass sides, the traveler may also
gaze to-day upon the remains of this "Saint Ferdinand" clothed in
royal robes, and with a crown upon his head.

Spain had begun to lift up her head among the other nations of Europe.
To defeat the Crescent was the highest ideal of that chivalric age.
Spain, longer than any other nation, had fought the Mahommedan. It
had been her sole occupation for four centuries, and now she had
vanquished him, and driven him into the mountains of one of her
smallest provinces, there to hide from the Spaniards as they had once
hidden from the Moors in the North. This was a passport to the
honor and respect of other Christ