Hisham II or Abu'l-Walid Hisham II al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah (, Abū'l-Walīd Hishām al-Muʾayyad bi-ʾllāh) (son of
Al-Hakam II and
Subh of Cordoba
Ṣubḥ () (circa 940 – circa 999), also known as Aurora in the Basque Country, or as Sobeya, Sobha, or Ṣabīḥa Malikat Qurṭuba ('Sabiha, Queen of Cordoba'), was the spouse of Caliph al-Hakam II of Cordoba (r. 961–976), and the regent ...
) was the third
Umayyad Caliph of Spain, in
Al-Andalus from 976 to 1009, and 1010–13.
Reign
In 976, at the age of 11, Hisham II succeeded his father
Al-Hakam II as
Caliph of Cordoba. Hisham II was a minor at the time of his accession and therefore was unfit to rule. In order to benefit the Caliphate, his mother
Subh was aided by first minister
Jafar al-Mushafi to act as regents with
al-Mansur ibn Abi Aamir (better known as "Almanzor") as her steward. In 978 Almanzor manipulated his way into the position of royal chamberlain. In an attempt to position himself as a prospective ruler of the Caliphate, Almanzor and General
Ghalib al-Siklabi sabotaged the brother of
Al-Hakam II who was set to succeed his brother and become the next Caliph of Cordoba. Still too young to rule, Hisham II handed the reins of power over to Almanzor in 981, who became the ''de facto'' leader of the Caliphate until his death in 1002.
Al-Mansur ibn Abi Amir perpetuated his position as the omnipotent ruler in charge of the empire while he exiled Hisham II and essentially kept him prisoner for most of his reign as the third
Caliph of Cordoba. With his countless successful campaigns against Christian powers in the Spanish North such as Barcelona in 985, León in 988, as well as a major strike on the church of St. James in the
Galician city of
Santiago de Compostela in 998,
Almanzor is known for bringing the
Caliphate of Córdoba to its apex of power in
Islamic Iberian history.
In 1002, after the death of his father (Almanzor),
Abd al-Malik
Abdul Malik ( ar, عبد الملك) is an Arabic (Muslim or Christian) male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Malik''. The name means "servant of the King", in the Christian insta ...
(1002–1008) became the ruler of the Caliphate and led successful campaigns against
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
and
Barcelona. In 1008
Abd ur-Rahman Sanjul (1008–1009) is said to have poisoned his brother (
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
ʿAbd al-Malik, originally called Sayf al-Dawla, later al-Muẓaffar. His full Arabic name comprises a '' kunya'' (Abū Marwān), '' ism'' (ʿAbd al-Malik), ''nasab'' (Ibn Abī ʿĀmir), ''nisba'' (al-Maʿāfirī) and '' laḳab'' (al-Muẓaffar). ...
) which led to his death in October 1008.
In 1009, while
Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo was waging war against
Alfonso V in
León,
Muhammad II al-Mahdi usurped the throne from Hisham II then held him hostage in
Cordoba. In November of the same year, just months after initiating his control as the ruler of the Caliphate,
Muhammad II al-Mahdi was overthrown by a primarily Berber army (that he had previously commanded, but by which he was later abandoned) which was led by
Sulayman ibn al-Hakam
Sulayman ibn al-Hakam or Sulayman al-Musta'in bi-llah ( ar, سلیمان المستعین باللہ; died 1016) was the fifth Caliph of Córdoba, ruling from 1009 to 1010, and from 1013 to 1016 in Al-Andalus.
In 1009, after Muhammad II ibn Hi ...
in the battle of Alcolea. After the battle,
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
ʿAbd al-Malik, originally called Sayf al-Dawla, later al-Muẓaffar. His full Arabic name comprises a '' kunya'' (Abū Marwān), '' ism'' (ʿAbd al-Malik), ''nasab'' (Ibn Abī ʿĀmir), ''nisba'' (al-Maʿāfirī) and '' laḳab'' (al-Muẓaffar). ...
was exiled to
Toledo
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Orur ...
at which point Sulayman laid siege to Cordoba freeing Hisham II from the imprisonment that took place under the rule of
Muhammad II al-Mahdi.
Sulayman ibn al-Hakam
Sulayman ibn al-Hakam or Sulayman al-Musta'in bi-llah ( ar, سلیمان المستعین باللہ; died 1016) was the fifth Caliph of Córdoba, ruling from 1009 to 1010, and from 1013 to 1016 in Al-Andalus.
In 1009, after Muhammad II ibn Hi ...
was appointed to Caliph by his Berber army and maintained that position until
Muhammad II al-Mahdi re-conquered the territory in May, 1010. Finally the Slavic troops of the Caliphate under al-Wahdid restored Hisham II as Caliph (1010–1013).
Hisham II was now under the influence of al-Wahdid, who was nevertheless unable to gain control of the Berber troops – these still supported Sulayman, and the civil war continued. In 1013 the Berbers took Cordoba with much plundering and destruction. What happened to Hisham after that is uncertain – supposedly he was killed on 19 April 1013 by the Berbers. In any case, Sulayman al-Mustaʿin (1013–1016) became Caliph.
Revival under the taifa kings
Due to his disappearance, and hence his possible survival, Hisham II was revived as a symbol of legitimacy by the
taifa kings who appeared following the definitive collapse of the caliphate: in 1035, the ruler of the
Taifa of Seville,
Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abbad, announced that Hisham had reappeared, and declared his allegiance to him. Other taifas falling under Seville's sway during the following years followed suit. It was not until 1060 that the Sevillan ruler
Abbad II al-Mu'tadid acknowledged that this supposed Hisham had died in 1044 without a successor, but the "convenient fiction" of his survival lasted until at least 1082–83, when his name still appears in the coins of the
Taifa of Zaragoza.
See also
*
Jacob ibn Jau
References
Sources
*
External links
Al-Andalus: the art of Islamic Spain an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Hisham II (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hisham 02 Of Cordoba
966 births
1013 deaths
10th-century caliphs of Córdoba
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