The Court of the Caliphate of Al-Andalus: Four Years in Umayyad Córdoba

During the second half of the 10^th/4^th century, the Umayyad caliphate of al-Andalus became a powerful political formation in Western Europe. Described by the contemporary German nun Hrotsvitha as the 'ornament of the world', Cordoba was the destiny of embassies and traders coming from places as far away as Constantinople, the Ottoman empire and Italy. The zenith of this political supremacy coincided with the rule of al-Ḥakam II (961-976 CE), whose name is associated with the enlargement of the mosque of Cordoba, the magnificent palatine city of Madīnat al-Zahrāʼ and the rich caliphal library which housed Arab, Latin and Hebrew manuscripts.

This book is based on an extraordinary source that had never been the subject of a comprehensive study: the annals written by an official and chronicler of the caliph's court, 'Īsà b. Aḥmad al-Rāzī, who carefully annotated the big and small events of the court. Used by Ibn Ḥayyān to compose one of the volumes of his celebrated Muqtabis, these 'annals' have come to us in a substantial fragment of more than 135 folia that cover the period from June 971 to July 975 CE. This source provides an eye-witness account of the caliphate, which describes with stunning detail all the events, characters, places and narratives of the Umayyad caliphate, and is a fundamental work in helping us to understand the configuration of the Mediterranean in the 10^th century CE.

Author: Eduardo Manzano Moreno
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 05/18/2023
Pages: 480
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.85lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781399516129

About the Author

Eduardo Manzano Moreno is Research Professor at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid and British Academy Global Professor at the University of St. Andrews. Between 2007 and 2012 he was Director of the Centre for Social and Human Sciences of the CSIC He has been visiting professor at the universities of Oxford (St. John's College), Chicago (Tinker Professor) and the School of Oriental and African Studies. His research has focused on the history of al-Andalus and on the political implications of historical memory. He has directed numerous research projects focusing on both subjects, on which he has also published a large number of articles and book chapters in English, French and German publications. Previous works include Conquistadores, emires y califas. Los omeyas y la formación de al-Andalus (Editorial Crítica) and Épocas Medievales (Editorial Crítica).