him to the Holy Land, where he gained some possessions by his
valour.

Excited by these illustrious examples, other French cavaliers resorted
soon after to the standard of the King of _Aragon_, Alphonso I., who
made himself master of Saragossa, and for ever destroyed that ancient
kingdom of the Moors, A.D. 1118, Heg. 512.

The son of Henry of Bourgogne, Alphonso I. king of Portugal, a prince
renowned for his {96} bravery, availed himself of the presence of a
combined fleet of English, Flemings, and Germans, who had anchored in
the harbour of that city on their way to the Holy Land, to lay siege to
Lisbon. He carried that place by assault, in spite of its great
strength, and made it the capital of his kingdom, A.D. 1147, Heg. 541.

During this period the kings of Castile and Navarre were extending
their conquests in Andalusia.

The Moors were attacked on all sides, and their cities were everywhere
compelled to surrender, now that they were no longer materially aided
by the Almoravides. Those African princes were at this time
sufficiently occupied at home in opposing some new sectaries, the
principal of whom, under pretext of reinitiating the people in a
knowledge of the pure doctrines of Mohammed, opened for themselves a
path to the throne, and, after many struggles, ended by effectually
driving the family of the Almoravides from its possession. The new
conquerors, becoming by these means masters of Morocco and Fez,
destroyed, according to the African custom, every individual of the
supplanted race, and founded a new dynasty, which is known under {97}
the name of the _Almohades_, A.D. 1149, Heg. 543.

In the midst of these divisions, these wars and combats, the fine arts
still continued to be cultivated at Cordova. And though they were no
longer in the flourishing condition in which they were maintained
during the reigns of the several caliphs who bore the cherished name of
Abderamus, yet the schools of philosophy, poetry, and medicine had
continued to exist. These schools produced, in the twelfth century,
several distinguished men, among the most celebrated of whom were the
learned Abenzoar and the famous Averroes. The former, equally profound
in medicine, pharmacy, and surgery, lived, it is said, to the age of
one hundred and thirty-five years. Some estimable works which he
produced are still extant. Averroes was also a physician, but he was
more of a philosopher, poet, lawyer, and commentator. He acquir