Hisham II

Hisham II ھشام المؤيد بالله
17 Caliph of Umayyad Dynasty 3rd Caliph of Córdoba
Reign	16 October 976–1009 1010– 19 April 1013
Predecessor	Al-Hakam II Sulayman ibn al-Hakam
Successor	Muhammad II Sulayman ibn al-Hakam
Born	966
Died	19 April 1013
Father	Al-Hakam II
Mother	Subh

Hisham II (Arabic: ھشام المؤيد بالله‎‎‎) was the third Caliph of Cordoba, of the Umayyad dynasty. He ruled 976–1009, and 1010–13 in the Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia, which became part of modern Spain).^[1]

Hisham II succeeded his father Al-Hakam II as Caliph of Cordoba in 976 at the age of 10, with his mother Subh and the first minister Jafar al-Mushafi acting as regents. General Ghalib and Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir (Almansor) managed to prevent the eunuchs from placing a brother of al-Hakam II on the throne. Subh advanced Al-Mansur and appointed him to the treasury of the Caliphate. Hisham II himself was kept from government and exercised no political influence, and in 997 he was even forced to officially hand over sole control of the government to Al-Mansur, under whom the Caliphate reached its greatest extent and attained its greatest success over the Christian states.

After Al-Mansur's death in 1002 his son Abd al-Malik (1002–1008) came to power and secured his position in the Caliphate with successful campaigns against Navarre and Barcelona before being murdered by Abd ur-Rahman Sangul (1008–1009). In 1009 a popular uprising led by Muhammad II al-Mahdi deposed both Sangul and Hisham II, the latter being kept imprisoned in Cordoba under the new regime.

The next few years saw rapid changes of leadership as a result of wars between Berber and Arab armies, as well as of Slavic mercenaries, with al-Mahdi losing out to Sulaiman al-Mustain in 1009 before regaining power in 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 Sulaiman, and the civil war continued. It is known that Hisham "openly kept a male harem."^[2] 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, Sulaiman al-Mustain (1013–1016) became Caliph.^[3]

See also

• Jacob ibn Jau

References

1. "First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936, Volume 3". Retrieved 25 September 2016.
2. Daniel Eisenberg, “Homosexuality” in Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia, ed. Michael Gerli (Routledge, 2003), 398.
3. "The Cambridge Medieval History vol 3 - Germany and the Western Empire". Retrieved 25 September 2016.

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)