Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad: Difference between revisions

{{expand Arabic|topic=bio|date=April 2019}}

| name = Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad

| image = File:Al Andalus Dirham 602105.jpg

|image_size alt = 300px

|dynasty father = [[AbbadidAbbad II dynasty|Abbadidal-Mu'tadid]]

|father mother = [[Abbad II al-Mu'tadid]]

|mother spouse = [[Al-Rumaikiyya]]

| issue = [[Buthaina bint al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad|Buthaina]] (daughter)

'''alAl-Mu'tamid Muhammad ibn Abbad Ibn Ismail [[Lakhmids|al-Lakhmi]]''' ({{lang-langx|ar| المعتمد محمد ابن عباد بن اسماعيل اللخمي}}; reigned c. 1069–1091, lived 1040&ndash;1095),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOAUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24|title=Forme and Structure in the Poetry of Al-Muʿtamid Ibn ʿAbbād|last=Scheindlin|first=Raymond P.|date=1974|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=9789004038905|language=en}}</ref> also known as '''Abbad III''', was the third and last ruler of the [[taifaTaifa of Seville]] in [[Al-Andalus]], as well as a renowned poet. He was athe memberfinal ruler of the Arab [[Abbadid dynasty]] of [[Seville]], before being deposed by the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]] in 1091.

When he was 13 years old, Al-Mu'tamid's father bestowed on him the title of [[Emir]] and appointed the Andalusi Arabic poet [[Ibn Ammar (poet)|Ibn Ammar]] as his [[vizier]]. However, Al-Mu'tamid fell strongly under the influence of Ibn Ammar, and possibly in love. After one night of poetry and wine it was reported that Al-Mu'tamid insisted they sleep together "on this same pillow." Al-Mu'tamidMu’tamid's father disapprovedwas wary of theIbn relationshipAmmar and the influence ofhe thehad, vizierultimately (not least because Ibn Ammar was a commoner) and sentsending him into exile in order to separate the two.<ref name=Roscoe1997>{{cite book |last1=Roscoe |first1=Will |last2=Murray |first2=Stephen O. |title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature |date=1997 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814769386 |pages=151-152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>Heather Ecker, ''Caliphs and kings: the art and influence of Islamic Spain'', London, 2008</ref>

After the death of his father [[Abbad II al-Mu'tadid]] in 1069, Al-Mu'tamid inherited [[Seville]] as [[caliph]]. One of his first acts was to recall Ibn Ammar and to bestow military honours and high political offices on him, including as Governor of Silves and Prime Minister of the government in Seville. SomeThis sourcesreconciliation suggestwould alater lovers'be quarrelrebuked afterfor Ibnunknown Ammar dreamt that Al-Mu'tamid was going to kill himreasons. The caliph reassured him that he would never do such a thing.

More likely the cause of resentment grew from the fact that the Prime Minister had let al-Mu'tamid's son, Prince al-Rasid, be captured and held hostage during a military campaign. He had also declared himself emirEmir of Murcia without properly acknowledging the rights of his own sovereign. The two men exchanged verses full of bitter criticisms and accusations. Murcia was subsequently lost and Ibn Ammar himself taken hostage. A final attempt to conspire with the young prince against his father proved too much for al-Mu'tamid, who "fell into a rage and hacked him to death with his own hands". After Ibn Ammar's death, the caliph was reported to have grieved bitterly and gave his former friend a sumptuous funeral.<ref>Levi Provencal, ''L'Espagne musulmane au Xe siècle. Institutions et vie sociale'', Paris, 1932</ref><ref name=Crompton2006 >{{citation | last=Crompton | first=Louis | year=2006 | title=Homosexuality and civilization | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-02233-1 | page=167 }}</ref><ref name="Roscoe1997">{{cite book|last1=Roscoe|first1=Will|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ|title=Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature|last2=Murray|first2=Stephen O.|date=1997|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=9780814769386|pages=151–152|language=en}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the family was still subject to taxation by the King of Castile, to whom they were vassals. The drain of these taxes effectively weakened the kingdom's power: al-Mu'tamid's decision to stop paying these taxes caused King [[Alfonso VI of Castile]] (who had already conquered Toledo in 1085) to besiege Seville. Al-Mu'tamid asked help from the Berber [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]] of Morocco against the Castilian king. Al-Mu'tamid supported the Almoravid ruler [[Yusuf ibn Tashfin]] against Alfonso in the [[Battle of Sagrajas]] in 1086. The MoroccansAlmoravids established themselves at Algeciras and, after defeating the Christians, occupied all the Islamic taifas, including Seville itself in 1091.<ref name="Reilly1982">{{cite book|author=Bernard F. Reilly|title=The Kingdom of León-Castilla Under Queen Urraca, 1109-1126|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-VRnQAACAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-05344-8|pages=17–18}}</ref> After they ravaged the city, al-Mu'tamid ordered his sons to surrender the royal fortress (the early [[Alcázar of Seville]]) in order to save their lives. When his son, Rashid, had advised him not to call on Yusuf ibn Tashfin, Al-Mu'tamid had rebuffed him:

{{quoteblockquote|text=I have no desire to be branded by my descendants as the man who delivered al-Andalus as prey to the [[infidel]]s. I am loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I would rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile.<ref>[http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/225154-ebook.htm ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001223639/http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/225154-ebook.htm |date=October 1, 2011 }}</ref>}}

Al-Mu'tamid, one of the most eminent men of 11th-century al-Andalus, was highly regarded as a writer of poetry in Arabic.<ref name="Scheindlin1974">{{cite book|editor=Raymond P. Scheindlin|title=Forme and Structure in the Poetry of Al-Muʿtamid Ibn ʿAbbād|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOAUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA24|year=1974|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=90-04-03890-6|page=24}}</ref> He was the father-in-law or father of [[Zaida of Seville]], a concubine of [[Alfonso VI of Castile]], possibly identical to his later wife, Queen Isabella.<ref name="Antolín2008">{{cite book|author=Fina Llorca Antolín|title=Las mujeres entre la realidad y la ficción: una mirada feminista a la literatura española|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZoqAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Levi-Provencal%22|year=2008|publisher=Universidad de Granada|isbn=978-84-338-4892-5|page=91|quote=Levi-Provençal ha demostrado que no era hija, sino nuera, del rey de Sevilla, y no se sabe bien si llegó a casarse o no con el rey Alfonso VI. (in English: Levi-Provençal has shown that she was not the daughter but the daughter-in-law of the King of Seville, and it is undetermined whether or not she married King Alfonso VI.}}</ref><ref name="Barton2015">{{cite book|author=Simon Barton|title=Conquerors, Brides, and Concubines: Interfaith Relations and Social Power in Medieval Iberia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNouBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|date=16 January 2015|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-9211-4|page=127}}</ref> [[Al-Andalus|Iberian Muslim]] sources say that Zaida of Seville was the wife of Al-Mu'tamid's son Abu Nasr al-Fath al-Ma'mūn, [[Emir]] of the [[Taifa of Córdoba]].<ref name="Sánchez-Pagín1991">Canal Sánchez-Pagín, José María (1991). "Jimena Muñoz, Amiga de Alfonso VI". Anuario de Estudios Medievales. 21: 11–40</ref><ref name="Lévi-Provençal1934">Lévi-Provençal, Évariste (1934). "La 'Mora Zaida' femme d'Alfonse VI de Castile et leur fils l'Infant D. Sancho". Hesperis. 18: 1–8,200–1.</ref><ref name="MontanerFrutos2005">Montaner Frutos, Alberto (2005). [https://www.academia.edu/9483555/La_mora_Zaida_entre_historia_y_leyenda_con_una_reflexi%C3%B3n_sobre_la_t%C3%A9cnica_historiogr%C3%A1fica_alfons%C3%AD_ La Mora Zaida, entre historia y leyenda (con una reflexión sobre la técnica historiográfica alfonsí)]. Historicist Essays on Hispano-Medieval Narrative. "En conclusion, no hay razones de peso para considerar a Zaida otra cosa que la nuera de Almu'tamid, sin poder precisar su foiliacion." In English: "In conclusion, there are no compelling reasons to consider Zaida anything other than the daughter-in-law of Almu'tamid, without being able to specify her filiation." p. 279.</ref><ref name="Palencia1988">Palencia, Clemente (1988). "Historia y leyendas de las mujeres de Alfonso VI". Estudios sobre Alfonso VI y la reconquista de Toledo. pp. 281–90.</ref><ref name="Salazar1993">Salazar y Acha, Jaime de (1992–1993). "Contribución al estudio del reinado de Alfonso VI de Castilla: algunas aclaraciones sobre su política matrimonial". Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía. 2: 299–336.</ref> Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo asserted that Zaida was the daughter of ''Abenath'' (Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad), a claim repeated by later Iberian [[Christians|Christian]] chroniclers that persisted in written histories for hundreds of years. However, the Islamic chroniclers are considered more reliable,<ref name="Sánchez-Pagín1991" /><ref name="MontanerFrutos2005" /><ref name="Palencia1988" /><ref name="Salazar1993" /> and the general consensus among scholars now is that Zaida was Al-Mu'tamid's daughter-in-law.<ref name="Antolín2008" />

* [[AbbadidAbbasid dynasty]]

*{{cite book |title=Poesia / Al-Mutamid |first=Miguel José |last=Hagerty ed.|location=Barcelona |publisher=Antoni Bosch |year=1979}}

*{{cite book |title=Poesías / Al Mutamid Ibn Abbad |first=María Jesús |last=Rubiera Mata ed.|location= Madrid |publisher=Universidad de Sevilla |year=1982}}

{{commons category|Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad}}

[[Category:Muslim11th-century Arabic-language poets]]

[[Category:Moorish11th-century writers from al-Andalus]]

[[Category:MedievalPoets LGBTfrom historyal-Andalus]]

[[Category:Medieval11th-century LGBTmonarchs peoplein Al-Andalus]]

[[Category:LGBT11th-century MuslimsArab people]]