om Morocco, or _Saracens_, from an Arabic
word meaning eastern. Often they were called simply _infidels_, meaning
unbelievers.

The Moors were not only skilled warriors, but a people of much
intelligence, and made far more rapid advances in civilization than the
Spaniards. They fostered education, and founded schools and libraries.
They possessed a considerable knowledge of astronomy, algebra,
chemistry, and natural history, and attained great excellence in the
arts of music, poetry, and architecture. They built splendid cities,
adorned with magnificent mosques and palaces. The wonderful mosque of
Cordova and the beautiful Alhambra at Granada remain to this day as
monuments of the Moorish skill in architecture.

Nor were the Moors cruel or tyrannical rulers. It was not often that a
Moorish emir or king ill-treated or persecuted his Christian subjects.
As a rule, the Christians were allowed more privileges and greater
freedom than was usually accorded to a conquered people in those days.
But the Spaniards were proud and intensely religious, and they bitterly
resented their state of subjection to a foreign and "infidel" people.
Again and again they attempted to overthrow the power of the Moors and
to drive them from Spain. For more than seven hundred years, war was
waged at intervals between the conquerors and the conquered. There could
be no permanent peace between Mohammedans and Christians, for each
people despised the religion of the other, and each was determined to
rule in Spain.

Gradually, Moorish Spain, at first under the rule of one emir, became
separated into a number of small kingdoms, which were often hostile to
each other. This state of disunion among the Mohammedans materially
aided the efforts of the Christians to regain control of Spain. Little
by little the Spaniards reconquered their native land. In 1492 A. D.,
Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon,
conquered Granada; and with the fall of Granada ended the long rule of
the Moors in Spain.

THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE

In the fifth century that part of Europe then called Gaul was invaded in
succession by three Germanic races. The Visigoths first conquered and
took possession of the southern part of the country. They were followed
by the Burgundians, who settled in the eastern portion. Then came the
terrible Franks, who were not content with seizing the northern
territory, but immediately began a war of conquest against the ot