ay 19, 1199.]

The character of Mahomet Abu Abdallah, surnamed Alnassir, was very
different from that of his great father. Absorbed in effeminate
pleasures, he paid little attention to the internal administration of
his empire or to the welfare of his people. Yet he was not insensible to
martial fame; and he accordingly showed no indisposition to forsake his
harem for the field. After quelling two inconsiderable rebellions, he
prepared to punish the audacity of Alfonso of Castile, who made
destructive inroads into Andalusia. Much as the world had been astounded
at the preparations of his grandfather Yussef, they were not surpassed
by his own, if, as we are credibly informed, one alone of the five
divisions of his army amounted to one hundred and sixty thousand men. It
is certain that a year was required for the assembling of this vast
armament, that two months were necessary to convey it across the
straits, and that all Christian Europe was filled with alarm at its
disembarkation. Innocent III proclaimed a crusade to Spain; and Rodrigo
of Toledo, the celebrated historian, accompanied by several prelates,
went from one court to another, to rouse the Christian princes. While
the kings of Aragon and Navarre[35] promised to unite their forces with
their brother of Castile to repel the common danger, great numbers of
volunteers from Portugal[36] and Southern France hastened to the general
rendezvous at Toledo, the Pope ordered fasting, prayers, and processions
to be made, to propitiate the favor of heaven, and to avert from
Christendom the greatest danger that had threatened it since the days of
the emir Abderahman.

[Footnote 35: Sancho, King of Navarre, is justly accused of backwardness
at least in joining the Christian alliance. He even sought that of Yacub
and Mahomet, on condition that his own states should be spared, or
perhaps amplified at the expense of his neighbors. If the Arabian
writers are correct, he privately waited on Mahomet in Seville; but the
result of the interview is unknown.]

[Footnote 36: The King of Portugal was not present in this campaign,
confidently as the contrary has been asserted by most historians.--_La
Clede: Histoire Generale de Portugal_, ii.]

Mahomet opened the campaign of A.H. 608 by the siege of Salvatierra, a
strong but not important fortress of Estremadura, defended by the
knights of Calatrava. That he should waste his forces on objects so
incommensurate with their extent proves