ing all his Christian subjects to be circumcised.[5]

Another sign of an approximation made by Christians to the outward
observances of Moslems, was that some among them thought it necessary to
abstain from certain meats,[6] those, namely, forbidden by the
Mohammedan law.

A bishop, being taxed with compliance of this kind, gave as his excuse
that otherwise the Christians could not live with the Saracens.[7] This
was, naturally, not considered a good reason by the stricter or more
bigoted party, who regarded with alarm and suspicion any tendency
towards amalgamation with Mohammedans. If we can credit certain
chroniclers, a council was even held some years before this time by
Basilius, Bishop of Cordova, for considering the best method of
preventing the contamination of the purity of the Christian faith by its
contact with Mohammedanism.[8]

[1] See John of Cordova, in the "Life of John of Gorz," above,
p. 89.

[2] Alvar, "Ind. Lum.", sec. 35.

[3] Romans ii. 29; Galatians v. 2.

[4] See "Life of John of Gorz," sec. 123.

[5] See "Life of John of Gorz," sec. 123; Samson, "Apolog.,"
ii. c. 4. Cp. "Loys de Mayerne Turguet," xvii. 13. The king,
Halihatan (Abdurrahman III.), 950 published an edict, "par
lequel il estait mande a tous Chrestiens habitans es terres et
villes a luy subjectes de laisser la religion de Jesu, et se
faisans circoncire prendre cette de Mahomet, sur peine de vie."

[6] See Appendix B, p. 167; and Koran v. _ad init._--" You are
forbidden to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and
swine's flesh ... and that which hath been strangled."

[7] "John of Gorz," 1.1.

[8] "Pseudo-Luit.", sec. 341. Cp. "Chron. Juliani," sec. 501.
"Viritanus coegit concilium Toleto ad inveniendum remedium ne
Muzarabes Toletani, imo totius Hispaniae, Saracenis conjuncti,
illorum caeremoniis communicarent."

Sometimes, however, the contact with Islam acted by way of contraries,
and Christian bigots, such as the monks often were, would cling to some
habit or rite of their own from a mere spirit of opposition to a reverse
custom among Moslems. Thus we know that the monks in the East became the
more passionately devoted to their image-worship, because Iconoclasm
savoured so much of Mohammedanism. In the same way, but with far more
objectionable results, the clergy in Spain did their best to impress the
people with the idea that cleanlines