Zaida of Seville, c. 1070–1093/1107 (?), was a refugee

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

princess, formerly associated with the

Abbadid dynasty The Abbadid dynasty or Abbadids ( ar, بنو عباد, Banū ʿAbbādi) was an Arab Muslim dynasty which arose in al-Andalus on the downfall of the Caliphate of Cordoba (756–1031). After the collapse, there were multiple small Muslim states ca ...

, who became a mistress and then perhaps wife of king

Alfonso VI of Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century ( Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula ...

. She is said by

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mus ...

sources to have been the daughter-in-law of Al Mutamid, the King of

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, wife of his son Abu al Fatah al Ma'mun, ruler of the Muslim

Taifa of Córdoba The Taifa of Córdoba () was an ArabThe Caliphate of Córdoba ''would continue to exist de jure until the year 1031, when the Cordoban "republic" was proclaimed by the "senate" of that Andalusian city''The Formation of Al-Andalus: History and S ...

, (d. 1091). Later Iberian

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

chroniclers call her Al Mutamid's daughter, but the Islamic chronicles are considered more reliable. With the fall of Seville to the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

, she fled to the protection of

, becoming his mistress, converting to Catholicism and taking the baptismal name of Isabel. She was the mother of

's only son, Sancho, who, though illegitimate, was named his father's heir but was killed in the Battle of Uclés of 1108 during his father's lifetime. It has been suggested that Alfonso's fourth wife, Isabel, was identical to Zaida, but this is still subject to scholarly debate, others making Queen Isabel distinct from the mistress or suggesting that Alfonso had two successive wives of this name, with Zaida being the second Queen Isabel. Alfonso's daughters

Elvira Elvira is a female given name. First recorded in medieval Spain, it is likely of Germanic ( Gothic) origin. Elvira may refer to: People Nobility * Elvira Menéndez (died 921), daughter of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and wife of Ordoño II of Le� ...

and Sancha, were by Queen Isabel, and hence may have been Zaida's. Queen Isabel is last seen in May 1107. Zaida is said to have died in childbirth, but it is unclear whether this was at the birth of her known son Sancho in 1093, at the birth of a different child otherwise unknown, or if she is the same as Queen Isabel, in 1107 when she disappears from the historical documentation, perhaps at the birth of whichever was the younger daughter of the queen, Sancha or Elvira. A funerary marker formerly at Sahagun but later moved to Leon bore the inscription:

''H.R. Regina Elisabeth, uxor regis Adefonsi, filia Benabet Regis Sevillae, quae prius Zayda, fuit vocata''
("Queen Isabel, wife of King Alfonso, daughter of Aben-abeth, king of Seville; previously called Zayda.")

A second inscription memorializes Queen Isabel, making her daughter of Louis, King of France, although there was no French king named Louis in the generation prior to Queen Isabel. Neither memorial is contemporary and neither is generally viewed as credible.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{cite journal, last=Salazar y Acha, first=Jaime de, title=De nuevo sobre la mora Zaida, journal=Hidalguía: La Revista de Genealogía, Nobleza y Armas, volume=54, pages=225–242, year=2007 Deaths in childbirth 11th-century Al-Andalus people Spanish Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Islam Spanish former Muslims Burials in the Royal Pantheon at the Basilica of San Isidoro Women of Al-Andalus