Gibraltar. 
—\— 
History. 
The Sara- 
cens, un- 
der the con- 
duct of Ta- 
rif, invade ° 
Spain, 
and founds 
’ Gibraltar. 
A. D. 725. 
268 
north, 1850; and the Signal House, which is nearly 
the central point between these two, 1276 feet above 
the level of the sea. The western side of the mountain 
presents a gradual slope, interspersed. with abrupt pre- 
cipices. ‘The northern front, facing the Spanish lines, 
is perfectly perpendicular, with the exception of a nar- 
row passage of flat ground towards the north-west, 
which leads to the isthmus. The eastern side consists, 
in a great measure, of a range of precipices ; but about 
a third of its perpendicular height is covered by a bank 
of sand, which rises from the Mediterranean in a rapid 
acclivity. The southern extremity of the mountain 
falls, in a rapid slope, from the summit of the Sugar 
Loaf into a rocky flat, of considerable extent, ed 
Windmill Hill. This flat is bounded by a range of 
precipices, at the southern base of which there is a se- 
cond rocky flat, of similar form and extent, and sur- 
rounded also by a precipice, the southern extremity of 
which is washed by the sea, and forms Europa Point. 
This promontory has become famous, in modern 
times, for the site of a fortress, which nature and art 
have conspired to render the strongest in Europe, pers 
haps in the world. »The Bay of Gibraltar affords so 
commodious a harbour for shipping, and the promon- 
tory itself seems so completely formed by nature for 
commanding the narrow entrance into the Mediterra- 
nean from the ocean, that a town of considerable strength 
probably stood somewhere in this bay from the earliest 
times, Indeed, ruins of great antiquity are still dis- 
tinguishable at the bottom of the bay, on the banks of 
the Guadaranque, about four miles north-west from 
Gibraltar, which are supposed to be the remains of the 
ancient city of Carteia, or Heraclea. But the mountain 
itself does not appear to have been an object of particu. 
lar attention in early times ; and the present town and 
fortress are indebted for their name and existence to the 
Moorish invaders of the peninsula, 
About the commencement of the eighth century, 
Count Julian, a nobleman of great wealth and influence, 
whose daughter had been violated by Roderick, the last 
of the Gothic monarchs of Spain, determined to rev 
the dishonour done to his family; and having pas 
retired into Africa, acquainted Mousa, the Saracen go- 
vernor of the ‘western provinces, with the distracted: 
state of the kingdom, and promised to assist him in an 
attempt to dethrone the Gothic monarch. Mousa com- 
municated the proposal to his sovereign, the Caliph Al 
Walid Ebn Abdalmalic, who resolved to try the prac- 
ticability of the project ; and accordingly a s de- 
tachment, . consisting of 100 horse, and 400 foet, was 
embarked in the year 711, under the command of Tarif 
Ebn Zarca, who landed near the present town of Alge- 
ziras, and finding the country almost defenceless, rava~ 
ged the neighbouring towns, and returned laden with 
spoils. In the following year an army of 12,000 Sara- 
cens was assembled for the invasion of Spain, and Tarif 
was again appointed to the chief command. He landed 
on the isthmus between Mons Calpe and the continent; 
and having determined to establish a port on the coast, 
by means of which he might secure a communication 
with Africa, and at the same time cover his retreat, in 
case he should be unfortunate in his future operations ; 
oe, a the strong natural situation of Mons Calpe, 
an gave orders to erect a castle on the face of the hill, : 
which the Saracens now called, in compliment to their 
general, Gibel- Tarif, or the mountain of Tarif ; whence 
the modern name of Gibraltar. From. an inscription 
discovered over the principal gate of this once magni- 
ficent pile, the period of its completion is ascertained to 
GIBRALTAR. 
be about the year 725. Having left a garrison at Gib- Gi 
raltar, Tarif marched into: the county, and seized upon 
several of the towns in the neighbourhood. In the 
mean time, King Roderick, having received intelli- 
gence of his approach, assembled a numerous army to 
oppose his progress. A battle was fought near Xeres, 
in Andalusia ;. and after a long and sanguinary contest, 
victory declared in favour of the Saracens, and left 
them in possession of the whole kingdom. , 
_ From this period the Moors continued masters of Gibra 
Gibraltar, until the beginning of the 14th century, taken 
when it was wrested from them by the victorious arms Ferd 
of Ferdinand, King of Castile, In the year 1388, King. 
Abomelique, son of the Emperor of Fez, was di 
ed with assistance to the Moorish King of Granada, 
and landing at pe immediately laid siege to 
Gibraltar. Alonzo XI. who was then upon the, 
of Castile, was prevented from marching; to its relief 
by a rebellion in his kingdom, and by the approach of 
Mahomet, King of Granada, towards his frontiers. The 
fortress was attacked. with great judgment and bravery, & 
and defended, with equal obstinacy, by Pe tema Abome 
Vasco Perez de Meyra, who was compelled, ever, lique, 
to surrender, after a five months siege, Having 
led the rebellion, and obliged Mahomet to retire, Alonzo 
had advanced within a short distance of: Gibraltar, 
when he was informed of the capitulation. Having Bes 
resolved, however, to. attempt its recovery, my Alox 
Moors could victual and ir it, he encamped be! ’ 
the town five days after it had surrendered. But after 
several serious attacks had been made upon the castle, 
Mahomet, King of Granada, -having joined -Abome- 
lique’s forces, their combined army encamped. in the 
rear of the Spaniards, extending across the isthmus from Mt 
the bay to the Mediterranean. Being thus placed in who isot 
an extremely critical situation, Alonzo was at length ged tox 
obliged to listen to an accommodation, in r 
* — he dpe permitted to —~ aanautiok te pain 
the beginning of the year 1349, Alonzo again eneampe sieged b 
ed before this i viet ieimaan, atehain Gaumeant t on 
several months, castle was almost reduced to capi= 
tulate, when a pestilential disorder carried. off a great 
number of the besiegers, and, cine the rest, Alonzo 
himself, who died, much lamented, on the 26th of who dies 
March 1350. The Spaniards immediately afterwards fore the 
raised the siege. The descendants of Abomelique cone Place, Ii 
ion of Gibraltar till 1410, when ‘ 
lution ; but the besiegers having been reinforced, the surrend 
garrison surrendered to John de Guzman, Duke of 1462, 
Medina Sidonia, son of the unfortunate Count de Nie~ 
bla ; and thus was this important fortress finally wrest» 
ed from the Mahometans, after they had it 
during 748 years. This conquest was so acceptable to 
Henry IV. of Castile and Leon, that he it to his 
royal titles, and gave it for arms, gules, a castle, pro« 
er, with a key pendant to. the gate, or; which arms ~ 
ve ever since been contin In the year 1540; ¢... 
Gibraltar was surprised and pillaged by Piali Hamet,-and pill 
one of Barbarossa’s captains. During the reign of the. by Pial 
Emperor Charles V. the fortifications of the town were met, 16 
modernised and augmented by Daniel Speckel, a Gers. 
1 
